Horrified Vettel’s cry: Man on track!
Formula one faced a major security threat last night as a ‘ fan’ wandered across the circuit during an action-packed race under the lights in Singapore.
‘There’s a man on the track, there’s a man on the track!’, Sebastian Vettel exclaimed on his way to a dominant victory. a 27-year-old man, who is thought to be english, has been arrested by local police.
Vettel was the first to discover the unidentified individual, who strolled alongside esplanade Drive, next to turn 13. His next move was to sprint in front of Vettel, then walk unopposed for 53 seconds on the other side of the track. It was an insane act of stupidity.
The Fia say they have requested a full report of the incident from the grand prix organisers, while mercedes chief Toto Wolff even claimed the unidentified individual ‘must have had a couple of beers’. red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner said he ‘ looked like he had come straight out of a nightclub’.
His entrance on to the circuit gave Vettel the fright of his life and prompted the second safety car of the race. The man stopped to take a photograph, then proceeded to jump back over the protective barriers.
Lewis Hamilton’s troubles through the heart of Singapore were almost as painful as the authorities were slow to remove the man from the track.
Around the illuminated streets, supported by 65 miles of electric cables, the world champion lost power altogether. This was his first retirement of the season and only the second time he has failed to claim victory in his usually all-conquering mercedes in 2015.
Hamilton need not worry too much about his lead over nico rosberg in the championship, which still stands at an impressive 41 points after his team-mate’s fourth-place finish. It is thet devastating return to form of Vettel that could give the Brit chills in n this hot and humid city-state.
The Ferrari driver, now a four-time winner in Singapore, led from start to finish and moves ahead of ayrton Senna with 42 grand prix victories. That Hamilton was aiming to match his Brazilian idol’s tally last night is another kick in the teeth.
Mercedes’ mysterious tyre problems in qualifying saw them start on the third row of the grid and their pace showed no sign of picking up early on. Vettel — wearing a red visor on his helmet to sharpen his eye- sight at night — eked out a three- second lead over red Bull’s Daniel ricciardo on the first lap alone. Kimi raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat closely followed.
While he may not have been challenging the leaders, Hamilton was on course to extend his lead in the championship before his downfall at the halfway point. Boost-pressure failure was the problem and the 30-year-old accepted defeat after eventually dropping down to 16th, having ambled round for eight laps. ‘I really thought I had a chance today,’ he said. ‘I was keeping up with the guys, biding my time.’
Overtaking opportunities were few and far between through the twists and turns around marina Bay, but there were plenty of on-track incidents.
nico Hulkenberg was the first man out, carelessly colliding with Felipe massa as the Williams driver exited the pits. The Brazilian had nowhere to go and Hulkenberg duly clattered into the barriers. Both Fernando alonso and Brit Jenson Button were forced to retire due to gearbox problems.
Vettel, meanwhile, had the look of the man from 2013 again. ricciardo finished 3.3 seconds behind, with rai kk one n a distant third. Vettel will just hope his fans don’t get so close next time.
RESULTS: 1 S Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 2hr 1min 22.118sec, 2 D Ricciardo (Aus) Red-Bull +1.478sec, 3 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari +17.154, 4 N Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes +24.720, 5 V Bottas (Fin) Williams +34.204, 6 D Kvyat (Rus) Red-Bull +35.508, 7 S Perez (Mex) Force India +50.836,
8 M Verstappen (Holl) Toro Rosso +51.450, 9 C Sainz (Spa) Toro Rosso +52.860, 10 F Nasr (Bra) Sauber +1min 30.045sec, 11 M Ericsson (Swe) Sauber +1:37.507, 12 P Maldonado (Ven) Lotus +1:37.718. Retired: R Grosjean (Fra) Lotus +2 laps, A Rossi (US) Marussia +2 laps, W Stevens (GB) Marussia +2 laps, J Button (GB) McLaren +9 laps, F Alonso (Sp) McLaren +28 laps, L Hamilton (GB) Mercedes +29 laps, F Massa (Bra) Williams +31 laps, N Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India +49 laps. Fastest lap: D Ricciardo 1:50.041, lap 52.
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: 1 L Hamilton 252pts, 2 N Rosberg 211, 3 S Vettel 203, 4 K Raikkonen 107, 5 V Bottas 101, 6 F Massa 97, 7 D Ricciardo 73, 8 D Kvyat 66, 9 S Perez 39, 10 R Grosjean 38,
11 M Verstappen 30, 12 N Hulkenberg 30, 13 F Nasr 17, 14 P Maldonado 12, 15 F Alonso 11, 16 C Sainz 11, 17 M Ericsson 9, 18 J Button 6.
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: 1 Mercedes 463pts, 2 Ferrari 310, 3 Williams-Mercedes 198,
4 Red-Bull-Renault 139, 5 Force India-Mercedes 69, 6 Lotus-Mercedes 50, 7 Toro Rosso-Renault 41, 8 Sauber-Ferrari 26, 9 McLaren 17.