Singapore Grand Prix LIVE: Latest as Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen after Red Bull pass Sebastian Vettel
Follow the latest from the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore
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Your support makes all the difference.Lewis Hamilton started the Singapore Grand Prix from a surprise pole position alongside Max Verstappen after Sebastian Vettel could only manage third in qualifying, despite looking to have the fastest car in the field.
With Hamilton 30 points ahead of Vettel in the drivers’ championship standings, the Mercedes driver knows he will leave Singapore ahead of his Ferrari rival no matter what, but on the tight and twisty streets of the Marina Bay Circuit he stands a great chance of extending hit lead in the race to a fifth world title.
But Verstappen could easily upset the party on a track that favours the Red Bull, although he heads into the start of the race with concerns over how long his Renault engine will last after gremlins emerged during practice. Vettel, starting in third, has Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas alongside him, while Kimi Raikkonen is joined by Daniel Ricciardo on the third row.
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What time does the race start?
The Singapore Grand Prix begins at 1:10pm BST on Sunday 16 September.
Where can I watch it?
The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 from 11:30am BST, and on Channel 4 from 12pm BST.
Starting grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 36.015secs
2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:36.334
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:36.628
4 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:36.702
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36.794
6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:36.996
7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:37.985
8 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:38.320
9 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:38.365
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:38.588
11 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:38.641
12 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault 1:38.716
13 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.747
14 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.453
15 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.691
16 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:39.644
17 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.809
18 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:39.864
19 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams 1:41.263
20 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:41.334
Lap 25: So where are the rest of the battles?
Bottas is only three seconds behind Vettel and may fancy a podium - especially if Vettel has to pit again - but Raikkonen is running a fairly lonely sixth at the moment.
Alonso is only four seconds ahead of Sainz in seventh by 3.5s, while Gasly and Leclerc are running wheel-to-wheel in the battle for ninth.
Oh, and by the way...it's start raining!
Lap 26: Gasly's tyres have completely fallen off and he locks up twice on the back-section of the circuit, and Leclerc gets the switchback as they come out of the hairpin following the bridge. Unsurprisingly, Gasly pits at the end of the lap and could still undercut the Sauber when Leclerc pits. The great news is these types of battles next year will be in Ferraris and Red Bulls, which goes to show the future is bright.
Lap 28: Ricciardo pits from the lead and drops to sixth, but he emerges on fresh ultrasofts and has nine seconds between himself and Raikkonen, who has done a good job to reel in Bottas. It means that the top five are separated by just 13 seconds, with Ricciardo trying to haul them in.
Lap 30: As we reach halfway, the race is just starting to slide into another lull as the front three try to look after their tyres. It's still fairly hectic behind though, with Perez stewing in his Force India as he runs behind the Williams of Sirotkin, who pitted on the second lap to have debris removed from his car that was caused by Ocon's accident. Having chosen the wrong time to pit Perez, he's now stuck in 14th, with Hulkenberg 15th and Grosjean 16th.
Lap 35: Drama!
Perez's patience has all but run out and he tries to get Sirotkin into the right-hander before the tunnel. Sirotkin fights back and stays alongside him as they run through the immediate left-hander, and when Perez swept left the two hit each other at speed left carbon fibre going everywhere. Perez has a puncture for his efforts, and Sirotkin is struggling as Hulkenberg gets him on the next lap.
Perez pits for a new tyre and has damage to the floor, but replays suggest that was a bit of a sideswipe by the Force India in a show of frustration.
Lap 36: Magnussen and Hartley are dicing it all, albeit for the penultimate position, with Perez now 22 seconds off the Haas and running in last. It's a problem for the leaders as they're only just starting to lap their field, with Hamilton right behind Magnussen.
Lap 38: This is disastrous for Hamilton! The backmarkers are fighting between them with Sirotkin, Gasly and Grosjean all squabbling, and it allows Verstappen to have a run at Hamilton for the lead! They all eventually manage to negotiate the backmarkers, and Hamilton reports in "these guys are crazy".
Verstappen isn't as kind: "What the f*** are they doing?!"
Lap 40: Perez has caught Sirotkin again and this time gets by him easily, just as the stewards confirm a drive-thru penalty for the Mexican for deliberately hitting the Russian. Oh he's not going to be happy, and he comes in to serve it at the end of the lap.
Lap 41: Hamilton's brief panic there is over for now as the lead is out to 3.4s, but it took some quick thinking from the race leader to keep Verstappen behind - as our friends at Channel 4 have kindly shown.
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