Sebastian Vettel has produced another faultless drive in a near-perfect season to move within one point of becoming the youngest driver in Formula One history to claim back-to-back world titles.
In taking the chequered flag by 1.7secs from Jenson Button in his McLaren in today’s Singapore Grand Prix, Vettel holds a 124-point lead over the Briton, with just 125 available from the final five races.
It means the championship champagne will have to be put on ice for another fortnight until the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka where the 24-year-old has won on the last two occasions.
In claiming his ninth victory of a thoroughly dominant season, only one man has won more races in a single campaign -Michael Schumacher who chalked up 11 in 2002 and a record 13 in 2004.
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Storms to Pole at Singapore
Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix - Race Line Up
Behind the leading duo Mark Webber was third in his Red Bull, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso fourth.
Both men are now out of the championship reckoning, along with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton who finished a distant fifth, 67.7secs down following more controversy. Telegraph.co.uk
Another Briton, Paul Di Resta, was an excellent sixth for Force India, his best result to date in his rookie season in Formula One, ahead of Germans Nico Rosberg in seventh for Mercedes and Adrian Sutil in the second Force India.
Felipe Massa of Ferrari, who collided with Hamilton in the early stages, finished ninth with Mexican Sergio Perez in the final points scoring position in 10th.
Perez had a coming together with seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, which eliminated the German in his Mercedes. CNN International
Pastor Maldonado beat Williams team mate Rubens Barrichello, as Sebastien Buemi also slipped ahead of the Brazilian late in the race to take 12th. His Toro Rosso team mate Jaime Alguersuari had a tough race, clashing early on with Kamui Kobayashi, and crashing in the late stages.
Kobayashi was 14th following a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags, ahead of Bruno Senna who had an up and down race for Renault but caught and passed team mate Vitaly Petrov, who was 17th. Between them, Heikki Kovalainen was 16th for Lotus but is under investigation after the team may have unsafely released him into Vettel’s path during their final stops.
Behind Petrov, Jerome D’Ambrosio drove tidily for 18th for Virgin, with Daniel Ricciardo recovering for 19th for HRT after needing a new nose and front wing on the first lap, while team mate Tonio Liuzzi later ran into trouble and dropped back to 20th. Formula 1
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