How Vettel won the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix from pole and ended Mercedes' run

Sebastian Vettel won the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix from pole position, with Daniel Ricciardo second and Kimi Raikkonen third. It was the only round of the season in which Mercedes failed to take pole, and the same race saw Lewis Hamilton retire with a loss of power. The night at Marina Bay belonged to Ferrari.

Why did Mercedes struggle at Marina Bay?

Mercedes struggled at Marina Bay and qualified fifth and sixth, the only Grand Prix of 2015 without a Mercedes pole. Hamilton lost power during the race and retired on lap 33. Rosberg finished fourth, which cut his gap to the championship leader to 41 points.

Rosberg had been forced to change his power unit after it failed at the previous race in Italy. It was his fourth unit of the season, which left him one change away from a grid penalty. Mercedes came in leading the constructors' standings, but they struggled all weekend.

The race was also the Formula One debut of Alexander Rossi. He had agreed a contract covering five races, taking over from Roberto Merhi at Manor Marussia, and the Singapore weekend was his first taste of the sport's top level.

Mercedes lost their hold on the front row at Marina Bay, and Vettel made the most of the chance.

Where did the championship stand before Singapore?

Hamilton led the drivers' standings with 252 points, 53 ahead of Rosberg. Vettel was 74 points behind Hamilton and 21 behind Rosberg in third. In the constructors' table Mercedes had 451 points, Ferrari 270 and Williams 188, which left Williams a further 82 points behind Ferrari.

Several teams had brought updates. Sauber arrived with a heavily updated car, with a shorter nose and reworked wings at both ends. Red Bull fitted new turning vanes to Daniil Kvyat's car to improve airflow under the car and create more downforce, a feature both cars would run at the following Japanese Grand Prix.

Force India and Ferrari also brought changes. The Force India VJM08B received updated diffuser, rear wing, brake duct and bodywork parts, and the Ferrari SF15-T had altered floor sections in front of the rear wheels.

How did practice set up the weekend?

Friday practice started later than usual, at 18:00 and 21:30 local time, because the race was run under the lights. Nico Rosberg was quickest in the first session at 1:47.995, with Hamilton second 0.319 seconds back and Daniel Ricciardo third. Vettel briefly left the track at turn five before the end of the session.

Daniil Kvyat managed only eight laps in that first session after a fuel system problem, and he finished 18th, narrowly in front of the two Manor Marussia cars. Alexander Rossi placed last before crashing out at turn 18, which ended the last timed runs of the others on track. Several drivers brushed the walls on the narrow street course, and Carlos Sainz Jr picked up a left-rear puncture at turn five.

Will Stevens damaged his Manor Marussia in the second session, and his team spent most of the time repairing it, leaving Rossi with only three laps of running. Kvyat topped that session at 1:46.142, with Raikkonen in between him and Ricciardo. Hamilton was fourth fastest and Rosberg seventh, while Fernando Alonso finished eighth for McLaren.

Jenson Button, running a detuned power unit, was 14th and said he had hoped the car would be better. Hamilton expected a genuine challenge from Red Bull and Ferrari over the rest of the weekend. Ricciardo said he was not yet looking at Mercedes, while Vettel thought they looked a bit slow but would change that for the next day.

On Saturday evening the two Ferraris led the timesheets, with Vettel fastest at 1:45.682 and Raikkonen almost half a second slower. Hamilton had problems in the session, including an early spin that interrupted a run and an overheating car that he was called to cool in the pit lane. Valtteri Bottas was the quickest Williams driver, in 11th, and Nico Hulkenberg was just behind him in a revised Force India.

How did Vettel take pole?

Vettel took pole with a time of 1:43.885, the first Ferrari pole since the 2012 German Grand Prix, and the first dry-weather pole in five years. Only the Ferraris were willing to run on the harder tyres in the first part, while the rest of the field needed the supersoft.

Kvyat topped the first part at 1:45.340 on supersofts. Pastor Maldonado was knocked out, and both Manor Marussia drivers were eliminated as well. Both Manors then took five-place grid penalties for a gearbox change, and Felipe Nasr also failed to reach the second part.

Vettel was fastest again in the second part, two-tenths ahead of Kvyat. Carlos Sainz Jr hit the wall at turn 19 near the end and damaged his suspension and front wing. The session ended under yellow flags, and both Force India and both McLaren drivers were eliminated. Button had edged out Nasr by less than a tenth in the first part, and Max Verstappen made it through to the third part, while Nico Hulkenberg took 11th on the grid.

Hamilton aborted his first fast lap of the final part and lost half a second to Kvyat in the final sector. He later said the team had trouble generating heat in the tyres, which mattered most in that sector. Ricciardo lost time in the first sector, having had to ease off behind Valtteri Bottas.

Raikkonen and Kvyat claimed third and fourth, and both Mercedes trailed Vettel's time by one and a half seconds. The result ended Mercedes' 23-race run of pole positions. It was also the first time since the start of the 2014 season that the first grid slot was not held by a Mercedes-powered car, and it denied Hamilton the chance to match Ayrton Senna's run of eight consecutive poles.

How the race unfolded

Rosberg stopped at the end of the pit lane on his way to the grid. His mechanics fixed the problem, which Niki Lauda described as a glitch, and he made the start. Everyone began on the supersoft tyre, and most drivers expected two stops.

At the start the leaders held their positions, while Hulkenberg made a good getaway, and he and Sergio Perez nearly collided in the fight for position. Verstappen's Toro Rosso stopped on the grid and was pushed into the pit lane, so he began more than a lap down. Vettel quickly built a gap over Ricciardo, leading him by three seconds after the first lap and by about five seconds by lap five. Sainz was pressing Alonso by lap four, after Alonso had moved up to eleventh, while Grosjean lost places because he had to go around the stationary Verstappen.

By lap six Verstappen had unlapped himself and was setting quick times. Raikkonen was 1.6 seconds behind Ricciardo on lap nine, and Grosjean became the first driver to pit a lap after that. Hamilton pulled away from the group battling for sixth, while Rosberg kept the two Williams cars, Bottas and Massa, at bay.

On lap 13 Hulkenberg and Massa collided at the pit exit. Massa had made a slow stop of 4.8 seconds, and Hulkenberg was catapulted off his front tyre and retired on the spot. A virtual safety car followed, which became the real safety car by lap 16 and remained on track until lap 18 was over.

At the restart Sainz's car stuck in neutral, and he dropped to 18th. Vettel set a steady pace at the front, and Hamilton complained over the radio that Vettel was backing up Ricciardo. Hamilton reported a loss of power on lap 26, slid to ninth by lap 28 and retired on lap 33.

Massa's car also went into neutral, and he drove through the pit lane without stopping on lap 30 before retiring a lap later. Alonso's race ended on lap 34 with a defective gearbox. Kvyat came in for his second stop with tyre trouble and dropped to ninth, and a second safety car followed on lap 37 when a man walked onto the track.

Several drivers pitted for new tyres under that safety car, including Button, who came out in tenth. By lap 40 Rossi had been told to get back on the lead lap behind the safety car, but he could not get round in time, so racing resumed on lap 41 with him stuck between the leaders. Button and Maldonado then collided at turn 15 on lap 42, damaging Button's front wing, and he rejoined 14th.

Verstappen, who began more than a lap down, climbed to ninth and set the fastest lap of the race on lap 45. He took eighth from Grosjean one lap later, and Sainz followed him past the Lotus two laps after that. Grosjean complained that Sainz had given him no room. Perez passed Grosjean for ninth on lap 36 earlier in the race.

Ricciardo recorded a quick lap on lap 51, 2.9 seconds behind Vettel. Button retired on lap 53 with a gearbox problem, becoming the second McLaren to drop out after Alonso, and Bottas, running fifth, had gearbox trouble of his own but carried on. Grosjean ran wide on lap 60, letting Nasr through into the final point-scoring place in tenth.

On the last lap Toro Rosso asked Verstappen to let Sainz pass for eighth, but Verstappen refused and stayed where he was. Vettel crossed the line first, and the race ran for the full two-hour allowance.

Who finished where at Marina Bay?

Sebastian Vettel won from pole, Daniel Ricciardo finished second and Kimi Raikkonen third. Nico Rosberg took fourth, Lewis Hamilton retired from the race, and Max Verstappen finished eighth after refusing to let his teammate past on the last lap. Felipe Nasr took the final point in tenth place.

Singapore 2015 at a glance

What did the result mean for the title fight?

Hamilton's retirement was his first of the season. Rosberg's fourth place kept Mercedes in contention but cut Hamilton's lead to 41 points. Ferrari's win gave the Italian team a result to build on after a season in which Mercedes had set the pace.

Vettel had led the final two parts of qualifying, and he kept a steady pace at the front once the race began. His win was the clearest sign so far that Mercedes could be beaten at a street circuit where they had struggled.