Rosberg has marked his 200th Grand Prix today by winning the Singapore GP 2016, a race he started from pole and held the lead till chequered flag. By doing so, the German has also reclaimed the championship lead. Ricciardo finished second, just 0.4s behind Rosberg, their battle to the finish line only became clearer in the final ten laps. Hamilton settled for third after nearly missing the podium finish, an undercut plan worked out in his favor effectively pushing Raikkonen to fourth instead.

This was Rosberg’s first Singapore GP win, and his 22nd overall.

Singapore Grand Prix 2016 Results

1. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
2. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
3. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
4. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
5. Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
6. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
7. Fernando Alonso – McLaren Honda
8. Sergio Perez – Force India
9. Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso
10. Kevin Magnussen – Renault

As the first street circuit F1 race in Asia, the Singapore Grand Prix has become one of the most interesting Grands Prix on the Formula 1 calendar. Held as a night race under floodlights, the Singapore GP has been held every single year since 2008, with a contract extending through to 2017. Sebastian Vettel has the most wins at 4 while Red Bull has the most wins in the manufacturer category with 3 victories.

This is Rosberg’s 200th Grand prix, and he celebrates it in style by starting from pole after winning qualifying yesterday. There was overnight showers at the track meaning the track would be slippery in the opening laps, the top ten all started on ultrasoft tires besides Ricciardo and Verstappen who were on supersoft tires.

Grosjean was out of his Haas just about the same time the formation lap was taking place, he suffered a brake related problem in his car. Hulkenberg crashed immediately after the start prompting the safety car intervention, the Force India was sandwiched between the two Toro Rosso cars. Both cars drivers retired at this point.

At the same time, Bottas also reported a puncture forcing him back into the pits where he picked up a fresh set of soft tires. After two laps, Rosberg led the race away from Ricciardo, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Alonso.

The race went back to green on lap 3, Vettel was slowly making his way up the field and on soft rubber. The Ferrari man started from last after getting eliminated in Q1 yesterday with a suspension failure. Sainz on the other hand was informed of a damaged right side after the shunt with Hulk. Race control also waved him the black and orange flag asking him to pit.

“This is serious Nico, we do need that brake management,” Mercedes told Rosberg who on lap 8 held a 3.8s lead over Ricciardo with Hamilton not far behind in third. The Brit was also given a brake management warning by his team, Nico’s brakes could be seen glowing during braking. Ferrari did not waste time tipping off Raikkonen about Mercedes brake condition, urging him to chase Hamilton harder.

By lap 13/61 Vettel had moved up to 13th place and was hovering behind Nasr’s Sauber ready to attack anytime. Alonso made his first stop on lap 15 and rejoined in 13th, he was followed by Ricciardo and Hamilton. Ricciardo was given new supersofts while Hamilton changed from ultrasoft to soft…and he wasn’t that happy about it, “Come on guys, I needed a strategy that would get me past.”

Next to stop was Rosberg, who also picked up soft tires and Raikkonen took over the lead momentarily before pitting too. After the pitting mayhem settled down, Rosberg was back in the lead followed by Ricciardo, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Perez, Vettel, Alonso, Kvyat, Verstappen and Massa. Raikkonen meanwhile set a new fastest time of the race with a 1m49.882s lap on supersoft tires.

“We need to start coming out with some plan because this is all the pace I’ve got with the brakes.” Hamilton said over the radio. Vettel made his first stop of the race on lap 25, ditched his soft tires and picked up new ultrasoft tires. “Is the other car having the same problem?” Hamilton asked, and he was told Rosberg had the same problem too.

“We are still getting messages that Hamilton is having trouble with brakes” that was Ferrari tipping off Raikkonen. Meanwhile Vettel set the fastest time with a 1m49.641s lap. Ricciardo made his second stop of the race on lap 33 picking up supersofts this time. Raikkonen made it past Hamilton for second but the Finn also made his stop, and so did Rosberg, leaving the Brit in the lead. The leaders were all on soft tires now.

Hamilton also made his second too picking up new softs and rejoined in fourth, behind Rosberg, Ricciardo and Raikkonen. Vettel was now in fifth leading Kvyat, Magnussen, Verstappen, Alonso and Perez. Bottas soon joined Hulkenberg and Grosjean into retirement on lap 37.

And Hamilton made his third stop on lap 46, his plan B. Button had just retired his McLaren after an uneventful race for the Briton. While Hamilton picked on supersoft tires, Raikkonen pitted right after and picked the ultrasoft ones. The undercut worked in favor of Mercedes elevating Hamilton into third, Ricciardo also made his pitstop and picked up supersofts.

One man who wasn’t happy about his stop is Raikkonen, and the Finn did not shy away from revealing his unhappy state. “OK, we’re racing, come on Kimi,” Ferrari told him. “What did you want me to do in the pitlane? Go faster?” responded Kimi.

Ricciardo continued to chip away Rosberg’s lead which was now at 4/7s on lap 59, the gap reduced to 0.4s by the time Rosberg crossed the finish line on lap 61.

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