SINGAPORE // Lewis Hamilton spoke on Saturday of his confusion at the lack of pace of his Mercedes-GP team compared to that of Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.
But it was the improved form of his rivals that helped limit the damage to his championship hopes on Sunday.
The world champion failed to finish in the points for the first time this season. He retired on Lap 33 in Singapore following a loss of power that led to slower lap times as he dropped down the order from fourth place.
However, his teammate and nearest championship rival Nico Rosberg was unable to take full advantage. He finished fourth, gaining only 12 points, rather than the 25 for a victory, to trail by 41 points with six races remaining.
It was Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari who capped an excellent weekend’s work by picking up their third victory of the season, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull car and the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
The victory keeps Vettel’s title hopes alive as he is 49 points adrift of Hamilton, but expectations should be kept low on whether this is the start of a dramatic charge by the German.
This was comfortably the best of Vettel’s victories this year. He was a deserving victor in Malaysia and Hungary, but on both occasions he benefitted from mistakes from Mercedes, either with strategy or driving errors, that allowed him to get to the front.
Mercedes have been the dominant force for the past season and a half, but for the first time since the end of 2013, they were not the best package over a race weekend.
Ferrari, with Vettel at the wheel of the winning car, controlled the 61-lap race beautifully. He led every lap, reminiscent of his domination with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, when he won four drivers’ titles in succession.
He looked after his tyre wear and ensured Ricciardo’s Red Bull was unable to get close enough to try an overtaking move.
Even two interruptions for safety-car periods failed to rattle him as he charged to the 42nd success of his career.
The first pause came after Felipe Massa’s Williams and Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India collided at Turn 1, the second after a spectator had come on the track and walked down part of the circuit.
If Vettel was going to out-perform the Mercedes cars on merit, it was going to happen here.
He has always gone well in Singapore. His previous three victories here, from 2011 to 2013, were well-documented, but he also finished runner-up in 2010 and last year, illustrating that the Marina Bay Street Circuit is one of his favourite places on the F1 calendar.
If he repeats this form at next Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, it will be time to take Ferrari’s renaissance seriously.
But this weekend appeared to be a blip for Mercedes, who struggled with tyre temperatures in qualifying at a track where having a powerful engine is not essential to running at the front.
Hamilton had looked more competitive in the race, sitting only three seconds off the lead until mechanical unreliability sidelined him.
Suzuka is very much a track where horsepower is needed on the long straights and fast, sweeping curves, and on paper that should suit the Mercedes package.
If they do not return to the top of the practice and qualifying sheets in Japan, it would be an illustration that Singapore is not a one-off and there may just be the potential for a title fight at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 29, after all.
Even if Ferrari have found themselves on a par with Mercedes, it will still be a tall order for Vettel to hunt down Hamilton, given the Briton’s sizeable advantage.
But it does build optimism that 2016 may be a much more competitive environment, with Ferrari taking the fight to Mercedes in a more competitive fashion.
That can only be good news for the sport.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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