Lewis Hamilton’s real victory came on Saturday, Sebastian Vettel right to be frustrated, Max Verstappen’s maturity

Five things we learned from the Singapore Grand Prix as Hamilton dominated to extend his world championship lead

Lewis Hamilton had to hold off the unexpected threat of Max Verstappen to win the Singapore Grand Prix and stretch his lead in this year’s Formula One championship to 40 points as rival Sebastian Vettel could only finish a distant third.

Hamilton made a strong start from pole position but Vettel looked to give himself a shot at challenging for the win as he overtook Verstappen on the opening lap – just moments before the safety car was deployed as Esteban Ocon crashed into the wall at turn three.

But from the restart, Vettel was unable to live with Hamilton and Ferrari elected to pit him in an alternative strategy in the hope that they could force Mercedes into a mistake.

It didn’t work, and instead allowed Verstappen to go deeper into his first run, leapfrog Vettel and take the fight to Hamilton himself. As the pair lapped a number of backmarkers during the second half of the race, Verstappen was given a sniff of the lead and challenged Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver quickly shut the door and soon enough the chance was gone for the young Dutchman.

All Hamilton had to do was rebuild his lead and nurse his car home, which he did successfully to take his 69th victory of his career.

Here’s five things we learned

Hamilton crosses the line to take victory in Singapore (EPA)

Hamilton won the race on Saturday

It was a blistering lap that upset the form book and secured pole position for Hamilton on Saturday. Mercedes have struggled in Singapore in previous years as both Ferrari and Red Bull have shown faster pace, but Hamilton would not be denied with what was described by Martin Brundle as “the best lap of the season so far”.

Hamilton knew how important qualifying was (Reuters) (Reiters)

Hamilton knew how important it was and celebrated emphatically with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, and from there they were able to control the race, slow down the early exchanges to safe their tyres until Hamilton entered his pit window. It was a masterful strategy that all stemmed from Hamilton’s ability to secure pole, and had he been chasing Vettel or Verstappen, it could have been a very different story.

Vettel right to be frustrated with Ferrari

Ferrari got it wrong in Monza when Mercedes were able to outsmart them into running Kimi Raikkonen’s tyres into the ground, and on Saturday it was very much a case of what could have been as the team dallied before sending Vettel out that, he feels, cost him a chance at pole.

Despite fighting past Verstappen brilliantly on the opening lap of the race, Vettel and Ferrari together managed to find a way to allow the Red Bull back past once the pit stops cycled through that left the German far from happy. “Is there anyone else you need to tell me that I don’t know about,” came Vettel’s response on the radio when Verstappen emerged ahead of him.

Vettel is starting to act like a beaten man (Getty)

The German has looked increasingly despondent in recent weeks as the gap between himself and Hamilton steadily increased, and with 40 points now between them as they enter what is usually Hamilton’s strongest point in the season, the signs are ominous for the Tifosi.

Verstappen’s mature side shines through

It may not have been the victory that Red Bull desperately wanted at one of their strong tracks, but this was some drive from their soon-to-be 21-year-old charger. Verstappen, who celebrates his birthday at the next Grand Prix in Russia, did exceptionally well to put his Red Bull on the front row in qualifying and did not panic when Vettel nabbed second on the opening lap.

Verstappen was deservedly delighted with second place (Getty)

In the past, Verstappen may have tried to hold onto the position, locked up going into Turn 7 and potentially taken both of them out of the race. Instead, he composed himself as the safety car came out, focused on dealing with the engine issue that he had to manage throughout and got his head down when the green flags returned. With a superior strategy, all Verstappen had to do was hang on to the back of Vettel and make it count when he pitted, and the way he drove away from the four-time world champion to finish a staggering 31 seconds up the road is a good omen as he prepares to become the team’s unrivalled No 1 next season.

Where were the cool heads?

Having already collided with his teammate inside the first three laps to puts Esteban Ocon out of the race, Sergio Perez grew increasingly irritated with his Racing Point Force India team after they pitted him early to leave him stuck behind Sergey Sirotkin. The ensuing battle saw Perez lose his head, rage on the radio and, when he eventually got by the Williams, side-swipe it in a show of frustration.

Esteban Ocon's Force India is removed from the track after his first-lap accident (Getty)

Sirotkin meanwhile proceeded to lose his own head as he decided to run Brendon Hartley off the track when he attempted to pass in what was clearly a faster Toro Rosso. Given that these are supposed to be the 20 ‘best’ drivers in the world – and that is debateable given Ocon is heading out of the sport next year unless there’s a miracle between now and next March – it’s almost unforgiveable to see drivers resorting to such inexplicable tactics.

Gasly and Leclerc offer a glimpse of the future

The sight of a Toro Rosso and Suaber duking it out may not be the one that every fan wants to see, but it was the two men inside the cockpits that shoulder have peaked the interest of the millions watching around the world. This was F1 2019 come early, as Gasly will replace the Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull next year and Leclerc will swap seats with Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari.

Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc showed promising signs in their battle (Getty)

It could conceivably arise that the 22-year-old Gasly and 20-year-old Leclerc, both past F2 world champions, end up as the cream of the field, battling for world championships in the future once Hamilton and Vettel have departed. The two drove a fair but fierce battle during their time together on the Marina Bay track, and with the already-established Verstappen and the likes of Lando Norris and George Russell coming through the ranks – along with the unfortunately-exiled Ocon – F1 can consider itself to have a bright future when it comes to driver reserves.