8 Memorable Moments From The Singapore Grand Prix

Formula 1 was back in action at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Mercedes unusually looked off the pace from the very start, with Sebastian Vettel taking pole position and storming to a controlled race victory.

Daniel Ricciardo finished just behind him in second place, with Kimi Raikkonen third. Nico Rosberg was fourth while championship leader Lewis Hamilton retired. Here are the highlights from the race!

1. Avoidance skills

Vettel led Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat into Turn 1 at the start. The top positions remained the same, but there was plenty of movement behind – helped by Max Verstappen stalling his Toro Rosso. Oops. Luckily everyone managed to avoid him, and he did get going again though.

In his attempt to close in on those ahead, having dropped right to the back, Verstappen got very close to the wall at the penultimate corner. He was definitely pushing to the limit.

Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa made contact in spectacular style on lap 14. Massa exited his pit stop alongside the Force India and the two cars went for the same piece of track. It didn’t end well, contact was made, and Hulkenberg was sent into the air and the wall.

4. Close at the front

Vettel had things under control, but things did get pretty close after the first Safety Car. Raikkonen managed to stay with the top two and it was great to see the drivers really chucking their cars around the track in such close proximity. Sadly, it didn’t last.

5. “I’ve lost power”

Mercedes has had almost rock-solid reliability since the new F1 era started in 2014, but a few problems do occasionally creep in. It was one of those days for Hamilton, who lost power on lap 26. He tried lots of setting changes but it didn’t work, he dropped down the field and eventually retired. The title race looks set to be back on!

F1 tracks are not safe places for fans. That is pretty damn obvious. Someone clearly didn’t agree, as a 27-year-old male somehow managed to get onto the circuit on the back straight. The Safety Car had to be deployed and he was quickly arrested.

When the race resumed, things got pretty heated in the midfield. Pastor Maldonado defended fairly aggressively from Jenson Button and they made contact twice, the second time damaged the McLaren driver’s front wing. The Brit later called Maldonado “mental”.

8. Victorious Vettel

Despite the race being the longest on the calendar, it just managed to make full distance before the two-hour limit. Vettel took his third win of the season, but he finished just 1.4 seconds ahead of Ricciardo after a late charge by the Red Bull.

Raikkonen and Rosberg were a distant third and fourth, with Valtteri Bottas fifth, Kvyat sixth, Sergio Perez seventh and Verstappen - incredibly – eighth, despite ignoring team orders to let his team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr through. Felipe Nasr completed the top 10. F1 is back next weekend in Japan!