F1: Ten Glorious Years of Singapore Grand Prix

#7 2015: Vettel Turns the Clock Back

Vettel, the Master-Controller

The master controller is what pundits called him when he was with Red Bull for his knack of building an early lead and controlling the rest of the race from there.

The 2015 Singapore Grand Prix saw that, as Vettel turned the clock back, this time though, driving the Scuderia Ferrari’s SF-15T.

His third victory was never in doubt. The all-conquering Mercedes could not find the right set up or the pace to challenge neither the Ferraris or the Red Bulls. Their weakness is the high downforce circuits.

Lewis Hamilton had to eventually retire, suffering power loss. Nico Rosberg finished a distant fourth, closing the gap to Lewis Hamilton to 41 points in the championship, with Sebastian Vettel just eight points adrift after Singapore Grand Prix.

In the race, Hamilton and Rosberg who ran the opening stint - fifth and sixth - unable to stay afloat with the Ferraris and Red Bulls running ahead.

Vettel, though, pulled out a three seconds gap at the end of the first lap and five seconds at the end of lap three, from where he controlled the race.

There were two safety car periods, one was triggered by Nico Hulkenberg’s contact with Massa, who was rejoining after his first pit stop.

Once safety car period was over, Vettel tried to back up Ricciardo into Raikkonen, for the latter to jump the Australian for second place for a duration of eight laps.

Once it did not work out, Sebastian Vettel zoomed ahead, pulling out a 2.7 seconds gap in a solitary lap, and a four-second gap in three laps before backing off again to stabilize his lead.

Safety car made its appearance for the second time in the night, when a man entered the race track, jaywalking. This closed the field, and there were frantic moves down the grid. This saw Button colliding with Pastor Maldonado.

Behind the top four, Valtteri Bottas driving the Williams finished fifth, ahead of second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat, Force India’s Sergio Perez, and tussling Max Verstappen (who did not obey team orders to let Carlos Sainz ahead) and Carlos Sainz.

At the end of the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel remains the most successful driver in the street circuit, winning four of eight races.