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F1 Singapore: Rosberg resists Daniel Ricciardo for victory

In his 200th F1 race start, Rosberg resisted Ricciardo by just 0.4 seconds to take a third successive victory.
3 min read18 Sep '16
Autocar India News DeskAutocar India News Desk
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Nico Rosberg held off a charging Daniel Ricciardo to win the Singapore Grand Prix and reclaim the Formula 1 world championship lead.

In his 200th F1 race start, Rosberg resisted Ricciardo by just 0.4 seconds to take a third successive victory.

With Rosberg's team-mate Lewis Hamilton only third, the German has now leapfrogged the Briton at the top of the drivers' standings to lead by eight points with six grands prix remaining.

Despite both Mercedes drivers being warned about brake management from the early laps, Rosberg controlled most of the race.

After a safety car for a startline crash and a hair-raising moment as a marshal had to scamper off the track with the leaders approaching at the restart, Rosberg established a comfortable gap over Ricciardo and Hamilton.

Mercedes' choice of softs for its second stint, when Ricciardo stayed on super-softs, left Hamilton moaning at his team over the radio.

Hamilton then found himself under pressure from Kimi Raikkonen's super-soft-shod Ferrari, which got past just after half-distance after a lock-up from the Mercedes.

The second round of stops followed soon after, with the gap between Rosberg and Hamilton in fourth out to 18.9 seconds.

Mercedes then switched Hamilton to "plan B", and he charged up behind Raikkonen and then made an unexpected third stop for a set of ultra-softs with 16 laps to go.

Ferrari was left in two minds on whether to react, and though it hauled Raikkonen in, a superb lap from Hamilton allowed him to pull off the undercut and reclaim third. He then held off Raikkonen to the flag.

Red Bull covered off both those drivers by bringing in Ricciardo for new super-softs, while Mercedes left Rosberg out on his softs.

The Australian started hunting down Rosberg, a 24s gap becoming 5s within seven laps.

But some traffic, fading tyres and Mercedes giving Rosberg the green light to push his brakes harder stymied Ricciardo's charge and he ran out of time to pass.

The dramatic finish matched the start, when Max Verstappen's slow getaway from fourth triggered chaos.

Carlos Sainz Jr and Nico Hulkenberg tangled as they tried to dodge around the Red Bull, sending Hulkenberg spinning into the pitwall and triggering the safety car.

That proved to be the only caution period, but Sebastian Vettel did not need too much help to make it through the field from the back of the grid.

Rapid overtaking in the midfield and a long first stint on softs were the foundation for him to make it through to fifth place.

Verstappen ended up sixth via a late move on Fernando Alonso's McLaren, having had a big battle with his Red Bull predecessor Daniil Kvyat along the way.

Sergio Perez's eighth nudged Force India a point ahead of Williams in their battle for fourth in the constructors' championship as the latter failed to score.

Felipe Massa was only 12th, while Valtteri Bottas picked up damage in the first-lap incident, had to pit with a seatbelt problem and eventually retired.

Kvyat claimed ninth, with Kevin Magnussen 10th for only Renault's second points-scoring finish of the season.

Romain Grosjean's nightmare weekend, which already included two crashes and a gearbox-change penalty, culminated in a brake failure on his Haas that prevented him from even taking the start.

RESULTS - 61 LAPS:

Nico RosbergMercedes1h55m48.950s
2
Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault0.488s
3
Lewis HamiltonMercedes8.038s
4
Kimi RaikkonenFerrari10.219s
5
Sebastian VettelFerrari27.694s
6
Max VerstappenRed Bull/Renault1m11.197s
7
Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda1m29.198s
8
Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes1m51.062s
9
Daniil KvyatToro Rosso/Ferrari1m51.557s
10
Kevin MagnussenRenault1m59.952s
11
Esteban GutierrezHaas/Ferrari1 Lap
12
Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes1 Lap
13
Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
14
Carlos SainzToro Rosso/Ferrari1 Lap
15
Jolyon PalmerRenault1 Lap
16
Pascal WehrleinManor/Mercedes1 Lap
17
Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
18
Esteban OconManor/Mercedes2 Laps
-
Jenson ButtonMcLaren/HondaRetirement
-
Valtteri BottasWilliams/MercedesRetirement
-
Romain GrosjeanHaas/FerrariNot started
-
Nico HulkenbergForce India/MercedesCollision

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP:

Nico Rosberg273
2
Lewis Hamilton265
3
Daniel Ricciardo179
4
Sebastian Vettel153
5
Kimi Raikkonen148
6
Max Verstappen129
7
Valtteri Bottas70
8
Sergio Perez66
9
Nico Hulkenberg46
10
Felipe Massa41
11
Fernando Alonso36
12
Carlos Sainz30
13
Romain Grosjean28
14
Daniil Kvyat25
15
Jenson Button17
16
Kevin Magnussen7
17
Pascal Wehrlein1
18
Stoffel Vandoorne1
19
Esteban Gutierrez0
20
Jolyon Palmer0
21
Marcus Ericsson0
22
Felipe Nasr0
23
Rio Haryanto0
24
Esteban Ocon0

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP:

Mercedes538
2
Red Bull/Renault316
3
Ferrari301
4
Force India/Mercedes112
5
Williams/Mercedes111
6
McLaren/Honda54
7
Toro Rosso/Ferrari47
8
Haas/Ferrari28
9
Renault7
10
Manor/Mercedes1
11
Sauber/Ferrari0

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