The result of the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix would see the Williams Martini team fail to achieve any points with only one car finishing the race down in twelfth. Felipe Massa would finish a lap down in twelfth while Valtteri Bottas would retire in his garage. For Valtteri his race would go wrong at the first corner after having made contact with another car seeing him suffer a rear puncture as well as rear bodywork damage as a result. The Williams team was hoping to extend their lead over Force India but this was not to be.
Singapore GP Race Review
The sixty one
lap 2016 Singapore Grand Prix would see the Williams Martini drivers start
from tenth and eleventh. Both drivers would start on the ultrasoft tyre
while those in front of them would be on a mix of supersoft and ultrasoft
tyres with both Red Bull's were on the supersoft tyres. Valtteri Bottas
would start on new ultrasoft tyres while Felipe Massa was on two lap old
ultrasoft tyres. Grosjean would start from the pit lane after issues with
his car. Vettel would start from last on the soft tyre while at the front
Rosberg was on pole followed by Ricciardo, Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen,
Sainz, Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Valtteri tenth. The formation lap
would commence and the drivers would return forming up behind Rosberg.
Grosjean was out of his car and out of the race even before the start.
The lights would go on and then off and it would be Rosberg leading but
Hulkenberg would be turned around at the start and immediately the Safety
Car would be deployed. Hulkenberg's car was badly damaged after hitting the
pit wall. Hulkenberg had made contact with Sainz with both cars trying to
avoid a slow starting Verstappen. For Williams Valtteri was seen with a left
rear puncture. There was a rush of cars all pitting under the Safety Car.
Valtteri's car was damaged around the rear but the team would still send him
out after having swapped to the soft tyre. Button had also pitted with a
damaged front wing. Valtteri had said that he had been hit at the first
corner.
The field would
be used to go through the pit lane while the damaged Force India was
removed. Rosberg was leading from Ricciardo and Hamilton as the race
restarted on lap four. Raikkonen was fourth followed by Alonso and Kvyat.
Felipe was running in ninth while Valtteri was down in nineteenth but having
made a stop. Sainz in seventh was running with a damaged barge board on the
right side of his car. Verstappen was ninth followed by Felipe and
Magnussen. lap five and Rosberg was leading by 2.2 seconds over Ricciardo.
Perez was in thirteenth but on the soft tyre. Kvyat was running in sixth
while team-mate Sainz was told to pit to be the damaged parts of his car
sorted out. Valtteri was up to eighteenth and Vettel fifteenth both on the
soft tyre.
Sainz would pit on lap nine coming back out in twentieth running on the
supersoft tyre. Felipe was now eighth after Sainz's pit stop. Rosberg would
be told that he must start to look at his brake management. He was now
leading by 3.9 seconds after lap ten. Valtteri was now sixteenth as Hamilton
was also told to look after his front brakes. Lap thirteen and Rosberg was
leading by 6.1 seconds over Ricciardo. For Williams Felipe was 1.4 seconds
behind seventh placed Verstappen while Valtteri was still sixteenth.
Verstappen would pit on lap fifteen taking on the supersoft tyres. He would
come back out in fifteenth passing Occon for fourteenth. Alonso would pit
from fifth on lap sixteen coming back out in twelfth running on new
supersoft tyres. This would see Felipe now sixth behind Kvyat.
Lap seventeen
and Ricciardo would pit joined by Hamilton and Kvyat. Ricciardo would come
out on supersoft tyres and Hamilton soft. The pair were fourth and fifth
with Raikkonen now second and Felipe third. Kvyat had dropped to twelfth
running on new supersoft tyres. Valtteri had pitted from sixteenth coming
back out in nineteenth. Rosberg would pit on lap eighteen coming back out on
the soft tyre after a slowish stop. Raikkonen was now leading from Rosberg,
Ricciardo, Hamilton, Magnussen and Gutierrez. Felipe had also pitted
returning in thirteenth running on new supersoft tyres. Raikkonen would pit
on lap nineteen taking on new supersoft tyres. Hamilton would be back in
front of Raikkonen. Perez was sixth and Vettel seventh followed by Alonso,
Kvyat, and Verstappen tenth. Felipe was eleventh and Valtteri nineteenth.
Kvyat and Verstappen were having a major fight with the Torro Rosso driver
aiming to keep the Red Bull behind. Felipe was now in tenth and closing in
onto Verstappen. At the front Rosberg was leading Ricciardo by 6.1 seconds.
Hamilton was third followed by Raikkonen, Perez, Vettel, Alonso, Kvyat,
Verstappen, and Felipe. Both Perez and Vettel were on the soft tyre.
Valtteri was down in seventeenth his race ruined by the early pit stop and
the damage to his car. Lap twenty three and Ricciardo had lowered the gap to
Rosberg to 4.5 seconds. Hamilton was now 11.2 seconds behind Rosberg. Vettel
would pit on lap twenty six taking on new ultrasoft tyres. Also on the soft
tyre Perez would pit on lap twenty seven returning on a new set of soft
tyres in thirteenth and behind Vettel. This would see Felipe now eighth and
Valtteri fifteenth.
Raikkonen was
closing in onto third placed Hamilton while Vettel had moved up to tenth
passing Sainz. Verstappen would pit again on lap twenty nine joined by
Sainz. Verstappen would return in thirteenth running on the supersoft tyre.
Sainz was seventeenth and running on the soft tyre. Felipe would pit on lap
thirty taking on new ultrasoft tyres running in thirteenth behind Nasr.
Team-mate Valtteri was running in fourteenth running on used supersoft
tyres. Rosberg was leading Ricciardo by 4.3 seconds with Hamilton third
followed by Raikkonen, Alonso, Kvyat, Magnussen, Vettel, Gutierrez, and
Perez tenth. Verstappen would pass Perez for tenth while for Williams
Valtteri would pit dropping to eighteenth running on ultrasoft tyres.
Lap thirty four and Ricciardo would pit taking on the soft tyre and
returning in fourth. In front of him Raikkonen would be able to get past
Hamilton after Hamilton had locked up his right front allowing Raikkonen to
pass. Rosberg would also pit joined by Raikkonen. Rosberg and Raikkonen
would both take on new soft tyres while Valtteri would pit again and it was
reported that this was in order to have his seat belts tightened up.
Valtteri was down in nineteenth with his race turning out to be a disaster.
Hamilton would pit on lap thirty six seeing Rosberg again leading from
Ricciardo. Hamilton was on new soft tyres running in fourth. The top four
were all now on the same tyre for their runs to the end. Vettel was closing
in onto fifth placed Kvyat but he would have to stop again. Alonso had
pitted and was back out in ninth running on the soft tyre.
Felipe was now eleventh 3.1
seconds behind Perez having passed Gutierrez. Gutierrez would pit on lap
thirty eight as Valtteri pitted again this time to retire. For Valtteri his
race went wrong at Turn one with the contact and having to pit. Kvyat would
pit coming back out in eleventh seeing Felipe now in tenth. Verstappen would
pass Magnussen for sixth with Magnussen pitting on lap forty dropping to
eleventh and running on new supersoft tyres. Vettel was fifth followed by
Verstappen, Alonso, Perez, and Felipe ninth. Twenty laps remaining and
Rosberg was leading by 3.8 seconds over Ricciardo. Vettel would pit on lap
forty four coming back out in sixth and on new ultrasoft tyres. For Williams
Felipe would pit again on lap forty six taking on the ultrasoft tyre,
returning in thirteenth. Verstappen would also pit on lap forty six dropping
to ninth running on new soft tyres. Button had retired in his pit as
Hamilton also came in on lap forty seven taking on supersoft tyres. Hamilton
was able to get back out still in fourth with Vettel a considerable margin
behind him. Hamilton's stop would see Ferrari pit Raikkonen switching him to
ultrasoft tyres returning in fourth behind Hamilton.
Raikkonen was running right behind Hamilton as Ricciardo also pitted on lap
forty nine. He would return on supersoft tyres still in second but 29.09
seconds behind Rosberg. Rosberg was told to now push hard. Kvyat would be
passed by Verstappen and Perez dropping to ninth. Alonso was now sixth
followed by Verstappen, Perez, Kvyat, and Magnussen tenth. Rosberg was now
going to have to stay out as if he pitted he would drop behind Raikkonen.
Lap fifty two and Rosberg's lead had dropped to 15.3 seconds with the cars
behind him a lot faster that him. For Williams Felipe was out of the points
in twelfth. Verstappen had passed Alonso for sixth as on lap fifty six
Rosberg was leading by only 7.0 seconds. Felipe would go one lap down as
Ricciardo continued to close the gap to Rosberg. It was looking like
Ricciardo will be right on Rosberg with a few laps remaining. But on lap
fifty eight Ricciardo would only find few tenths n Rosberg.
Lap fifty nine and Rosberg was now leading by 4.6 seconds with just three
laps remaining. It was looking like Ricciardo had faded just a bit in his
efforts to close the gap to Rosberg. With two laps remaining Rosberg was
just keeping the loss to Ricciardo down to as little as possible. Rosberg
would start his final lap with a 2.0 second lead. But Ricciardo would
continue to push closing it to 1.1 seconds seeing the Mercedes ahead of him.
Rosberg would take the final series of corners taking victory in the 2016
Singapore Grand Prix. Ricciardo would finish second followed by Hamilton,
Raikkonen, Vettel, Verstappen, Alonso, Perez, Kvyat, and Magnussen taking
the single point. For Williams Felipe would finish in twelfth out of the
points and Valtteri had retired in his garage. Not the result the team was
hoping for which seems to be the common story of the last few races. On top
of this the Williams team would lose their fourth place in the championship
to be behind Force India by a single point.
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