Sebastian Vettel wins dramatic Singapore Grand Prix

Championship leader Fernando Alonso was third,claiming his eighth podium of the season in the dramatic night race around the narrow,demanding street circuit through the heart of downtown Singapore.

Force India’s Paul di Resta took an impressive fourth and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was fifth,ahead of Lotus’s former world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Romain Grosjean,Felipe Massa,Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber rounded out the top 10 in a race that did not even reach the 61 allotted laps after hitting its two-hour time-limit,meaning it was halted after 59.

With the win,Vettel climbs to second in the standings behind the consistent Alonso,who has a reduced lead of 29 points. Raikkonen lies third and the unlucky Hamilton drops down to fourth.

“This has been one of toughest races of the year,to be honest,” said Vettel,last year’s winner in Singapore. “There are so many bumps,there’s no room for mistakes and it just seems to go on forever… I’m just incredibly happy.”

Hamilton made a smooth start from pole accompanied by Williams driver Pastor Maldonado,but a misjudgment on the first corner cost the Venezuelan two places as Vettel and Button sailed through.

Several cars ran wide on the first two corners and Caterham’s Vitaly Petrov lost some of his front wing,but an investigation found no cause for punishment.

Ferrari’s Massa was the big loser in the early jostling as he dropped to the back after pitting with a puncture. At the front Hamilton and Vettel,swapping fastest laps,were peeling away from Button.

Red Bull driver Webber came in for soft tyres on lap nine,setting a trend followed by the leading drivers. Meanwhile his team-mate Vettel overcame a scare at turn 10,the notorious “Singapore Sling”.

Sauber’s Sergio Perez also had a problem at the tough corner and Maldonado would have had his heart in his mouth as he pounded the brakes and narrowly averted a slide heading wide into a left-hander at the end of a long straight.

Hamilton pitted from the lead on lap 12 but was soon back in front,ahead of Vettel. But disaster struck on lap 23 when a gearbox failure put him out of the race,prompting gasps from the crowd.

Vettel was now in the lead for one of the rare occasions this season,but HRT’s Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan added a fresh twist when he ploughed into a barrier and stopped on the track,prompting the safety car.

Most cars took the opportunity to pit. But Maldonado,after complaining of a hydraulic problem,rolled his car into the garage and out of the race.

Button nearly collided with Vettel before the safety car left the track — and straight after the resumption Schumacher ploughed dramatically into the back of Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne,smashing the front wheels off his Mercedes.

Despite the front of Schumacher’s car briefly becoming airborne,both drivers emerged unharmed. With the safety car out again,Petrov also retired.

Massa made contact with Bruno Senna as he barged past his Brazilian countryman and only just retained control of his car in a wild manoeuvre that took him up to ninth.

Vettel set consecutive fastest laps as he scented his second victory in a row in Singapore,with a lead of nearly two seconds over Button heading into the final 15 laps. Alonso was seven seconds adrift in third.

Perez lost bodywork in a misguided attempt to squeeze past Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg,and Webber caused chaos with a bold move past Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.

ut the race was now Vettel’s to lose and he brought calm to the chaotic grand prix with a smooth ride to the abbreviated finish.

Di Resta finishes career-best 4th at Singapore GP

Paul di Resta recorded his career-best result as he picked up 12 points for Sahara Force India with a fourth-place finish even as his teammate Nico Hulkenberg returned empty-handed from the incident-filled Singapore Grand Prix,here today.

Di Resta,for whom a sixth place result was best so far,was helped by Lewis Hamilton’s retirement,whose MacLaren had a mechanical failure in lap 23.

Hulkenberg finished 14th after starting from 12th but set the fastest lap of the race with 1min 51.033secs.

Hamilton was leading the race smoothly from pole position before his gearbox stopped responding. It helped Di Resta move up to fifth from sixth.

It was a blow to Hamilton’s championship chances as a no-point show has now pushed him to fourth place with 142 points.

Hamilton’s crashing out handed the race lead to Sebastian Vettel,who kept it till the end won the only night Formula One race,which was completed under two-hour time restriction.

Jenson Button was second in the second McLaren and was followed by championship leader Fernando Alonso,who leads Vettel by 24 points.

With this result,Force India have consolidated their seventh position in the constructors’ championship as they have extended their lead over Williams by 21 points.

Willams’ Pastor Maldando,who was going strong fourth after starting from second on the grid,had to retire due to a hydraulic failure and it crushed their hopes of catching up Force India.

Nico Rosberg was fifth,followed by Raikonnen and Romain Grosjean in two Lotus cars. Felipe Massa was eighth in the second Ferrari,followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber.

India’s Narain Karthikeyan retired after crashing into the walls in the tunnel under the Grand Stand in lap 34 and was one of the six drivers who did not finish the race.

Michael Schumacher hit Toro Rosso’s Jean Eric-Vergne from behind in lap 37,ending the race for both of them.