Vettel inches closer to back-to-back titles with Singapore win

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel moved one step closer to becoming Formula One’s youngest winner of two consecutive titles Sunday after driving to victory at Singapore’s Grand Prix. Jenson Button came in second ahead of Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber.

By News Wires (text)

AP - Sebastian Vettel won the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday but the Red Bull driver will have to wait a little longer to clinch his second Formula One world championship.

The German led throughout from pole position to finish 1.7 seconds ahead of fast-finishing McLaren driver Jenson Button, with Red Bull’s Mark Webber third.

Vettel leads the drivers’ championship by 124 points with five races left and is virtually certain to take back-to-back titles. Second-place Button would need to win every race while Vettel fails to gain any points. Vettel has 309 points with Button on 185.

“It was a fantastic race from start to finish,” Vettel said. “In the heat we kept our heads cool and it was a perfect day in the office.”

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was fifth after another incident-filled race for the Briton, who had to serve a pit drive-through penalty for crashing into Ferrari’s Felipe Massa on lap 12.

Vettel looked untroubled until the closing stages as Button cut the gap by six seconds in just five laps to get within 3.7 seconds with three laps to go, but the Briton was hampered on his chase by backmarkers.

“I was in control,” Vettel said. “We were in a comfortable position for most of the race which is not easy around here.”

Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher crashed out of the race in spectacular style halfway through, running into the rear of Sergio Perez’s Sauber and launching his car through the air into a barrier. The incident was subject to a post-race stewards’ investigation but the seven-time world champion described it as a standard racing incident.

“Basically he just lifted off too early and I couldn’t anticipate it,” Schumacher said. “I was about to try and go on the inside as he was a lot slower than myself. Unfortunately, we had a misunderstanding. It was a shame.”

Force India rookie Paul di Resta was sixth in his best-ever finish.

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was seventh, ahead of Force India’s Adrian Sutil. Massa came ninth and Sauber’s Sergio Perez was 10^th.