Lewis Hamilton wins F1 Singapore Grand Prix

Story by Les Tan/Red Sports. Pictures by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Marina Bay, Sunday, September 27, 2009 – Lewis Hamilton won the F1 Singapore Grand Prix this evening as he led from pole to checkered flag in a less than spectacular race.

Timo Glock, who started 10th on the grid, finished second, while last year’s Singapore Grand Prix winner, Fernando Alonso, was third.

The win was meaningless for Hamilton in terms of the drivers’ championship as he has been out of the running from earlier in the season. Hamilton currently lies 6th in the drivers’ standings.

“It was a very, very tough race, I think I can speak for all of us,” said Hamilton in the post-race conference. “Conditions made it very tough but it was pretty straightforward for me. I knew I was longer than the guys around me so all I had to do was keep Vettel behind me. I felt I drove quite a nicely-controlled race.”

Of more interest was the performance of drivers’ championship leader Jenson Button and his Brawn teammate Rubens Barrichello who lies second in the standings.

An accident by Barichello in qualifying left Button stranded in 12th spot on the starting grid but the championship leader benefited from the mistakes of others to finish fifth on the night.

Williams’ Nico Rosberg was running second for the early part of the race but he crossed the white line while exiting the pit lane and suffered a drive-through penalty that dropped him back to the end of the field and out of contention.

Sebastien Vettel, third in the drivers’ championship and starting second on the grid, also made a costly mistake when he sped in the pit lane after his second pit stop. A drive through penalty dropped him down and he finished fourth in the race, leaving Button with a clear run for the drivers’ championship in the final three races.