Nico Rosberg Wins Singapore Grand Prix

The ninth edition of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix will go down as one of the best yet, as the battle for supremacy on the Marina Bay Circuit turned into a keen game of strategy between the season’s top three teams, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

In the end, Mercedes – runaway leader in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships – came away winners in the fascinating battles first and third places.

Starting his 200th Grand Prix from pole position, Nico Rosberg converted the advantage into a 22nd career win, one which he said he is happy for and would celebrate, but with his mind clearly on the bigger picture.

The 31-year-old German reclaimed the advantage in the drivers’ championship, his win taking him to 273 points and an eight-point lead over team-mate Lewis Hamilton (265 points) who finished third. Rosberg has now won eight races this season to Hamilton’s six, and will hope to keep his advantage over the season’s remaining six races to claim a maiden Formula 1 championship.

In Singapore, however, Rosberg’s battle was not against Hamilton, who had struggled all weekend in practice, through qualifying. Instead, he had to contend with the improving Red Bull, whose Daniel Ricciardo sniped at his ankles throughout the race, and could have well taken the race win had it gone on for a lap or two longer.

Ricciardo was especially dangerous after his third and final pit-stop, when he had 12 laps to chase Rosberg down armed with ultra-soft tyres. As he proceeded to progressively eat into Rosberg’s lead – the Australian was projected to catch up with four laps remaining – Mercedes were forced to abort a pit-stop for their lead driver, and hope Rosberg could hold off the challenger. 

In the end, Ricciardo simply ran out of laps as Rosberg relied on his experience to nurse the Mercedes home to become only the fourth driver to win the Singapore F1 race.

Final results - top 10

1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:55:48.950 

2. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - TAG Heuer +00:00.488 

3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 00:08.038 

4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:10.219 

5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 00:27.694 

6. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull - TAG Heuer 01:11.197 

7. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 01:29.198 

8. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 01:51.062 

9. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 01:51.557 

10. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) Renault 01:59.952