Sebastian Vettel is well on his way to his fourth straight world title with a victory in Singapore last Sunday that left other F1 teams languishing behind his Red Bull, prompting boos from the crowd because he won so easily. The German, starting from pole, fought off Nico Rosberg on the first bend and despite a safety car intervention, he was unreachable as he powered to his third win in a row and a hat-trick of victories in Singapore.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished second but is still 60 points behind Vettel with six races remaining. Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen finish third but it was disaster for Mark Webber, whose late charge ended in a blown engine, eventually abandoning his Red Bull at the end of the race to hitch a ride with Alonso – the practice earning both drivers a formal reprimand, but it was Webber who was given his third sanction of the season and given a 10-place grid penalty for the Korean F1 Grand Prix on October 6.
Young Australian Daniel Ricciardo retired his car and did not finish.
Sebastien Vettel has now won four of the past five grands prix and is fairly certain to become the sport’s youngest four-time world F1 champion, joining Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as only the third man to win four in a row.