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As it happenedended

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

Jack de Menezes
Sunday 16 September 2018 14:54 BST
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Formula 1: Official intro video

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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.

Follow the live action below...

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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 44: Remember Ricciardo pitting late for fresh tyres? He's just set a new lap record and is only two seconds behind Raikkonen in the battle for fifth, with Bottas just 1.4s up the track.

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:35

Lap 45: Grosjean has been given a five-second penalty for holding up Hamilton and Verstappen and ignoring blue flags, which is a bit of an odd one if you ask me. There's a case to say that the stewards are enforcing the law, but why have Sirotkin and Gasly not been penalised too?

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:36

Lap 46: We might be about to see quite a few lap records as it's just been broken by...Fernando Alonso. Who'd have thought that at the start of the day?

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:37

Lap 47: Perez gets past - you guessed it - Sirotkin for the third time today, and finally he's under investigation after driving Hartley off the road as he tried to pass.

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:39

Lap 48: Sirotkin gets a five-second time penalty for his move on Hartley and he serves it immediately as he pits for fresh tyres that leaves him in last and a whopping 36-seconds adrift. With Stroll in 15th, it's another race weekend to forget for Williams.

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:41

Lap 52: It's spicing up here, ad Raikkonen is onto the back of Bottas and Ricciardo has caught the pair of them! Meanwhile Verstappen is catching Hamilton out in front and the lead is down to three seconds.

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:48

Lap 53: Another new lap record by...Kevin Magnussen. Um...

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:49

Lap 55: Bottas is calling for more blue flags, and is clearly feeling the heat. One positive for him though is that Ricciardohas dropped three seconds behind and has to do all of that work to catch the pair up again.

Five laps to go...

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:54

Lap 56: "This is not acceptable"

Bottas continues his tirade against Hulkenberg, who to be fair to him is a long way ahead of the Mercedes. Ricciardo's coming back into this, and he could yet figure in the closing stages here.

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:56

Lap 57: Raikkonen is into DRS range behind Bottas...

Jack de Menezes16 September 2018 14:57

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