MOTORSPORT: Ricciardo clocks up seventh F1 podium finish 

Australian Daniel Ricciardo, the carsales.com.au global ambassador, has consistently claimed the Singapore GP circuit plays to the strengths of his Red Bull-Renault.

Unfortunately victory eluded him again last night in a rain-shortened Grand Prix which certainly didn’t lack for spectacle early-on.

In fact, Singapore made history by staging the first wet night grand prix in Formula 1 history and, somewhat miraculously, Lewis Hamilton, from fifth on the grid, won for Mercedes-Benz.

As a result, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel may have lost his chance of a fifth world title and opened the door for Hamilton’s fourth. A first-lap Ferrari ‘sandwich’ of Max Verstappen - Ricciardos’ Red Bull-Renault team-mate – sidelined Verstappen and both of the Italian stable’s red cars, driven by Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. The safety car held the field in-check while the damaged cars were removed and, combined with the damp track and two later safety car periods, meant only 58 of the 61 scheduled laps were completed because of the two-hour time limit.

Ricciardo finished the shortened race in second, 4.5S behind Hamilton. The Aussie has been on the podium at the Singapore Grand Prix the past four years, but is yet to win what he considers almost a home race because of its promixity to his hometown, Perth.

In qualifying on Saturday, Ricciardo and Verstappen had been the pacesetters until the final stanza when Vettel produced a special lap to take pole position ahead of the Red Bull-Renault duo and Ferrari teammate Raikkonen, with the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas pushed to the third row of the grid. On his fastest – and final – timed lap, Vettel showed spine-tingling commitment when he carried-on after brushing a concrete barrier exiting a turn.

As the cars lined-up on the starting grid, Vettel, trailing Hamilton by three points, seemed poised to regain the F1 championship lead. But rain just before the green light provided the miracle Hamilton needed from the third row – until the precipitation started, the Brit rated Singapore’s street circuit as the track which least suits his Merc.

Within seconds of the start, Hamilton was in the lead. Raikkonen made a brilliant getaway and overtook Verstappen on the left, while Vettel squeezed the Red Bull-Renault youngster from the right. Raikkonen banged the wall and spun, touching Vettel and collecting Verstappen into the first corner.

Raikkonen and Verstappen were out immediately. Vettel motored on a little but then spun on a straight, hit the wall and careered on backwards. Quickly it was all over for him too.
With just a few hundred metres in the books, Hamilton was in the lead with Ricciardo, who had been slow off the line, behind.

Fernando Alonso had made a blinding start from eighth and was charging around the outside of the first corner when he too came across the tangling Raikkonen and Verstappen and damaged his McLaren-Honda in the impact. Although Alonso soldiered on until called in by McLaren, the Spaniard has made it to the chequered flag only three times this season.

Thereafter the Singapore Grand Prix became pretty much a procession for Hamilton, with Ricciardo following but having to nurse his leaking gearbox, while Bottas inherited third - his 10th podium of the year, equal most with Vettel - giving Mercedes rich pickings from a GP it could not have imagined pre-race.

There were some career-best performances behind the podium trio – Spaniard Carlos Sainz Junior fourth in a Toro Rosso, Brit Jolyon Palmer sixth in a factory Renault, and Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne seventh in the other McLaren-Honda.

German Nico Hulkenberg - who had qualified his Renault seventh and was as high as third after the early dramas but retired in the closing stages - now has the record of most starts without a podium placing (120).

Hamilton’s victory was the 60th of his career (second only to Michael Schumacher’s 91), his seventh this season and third in a row. He now leads Vettel by 28 points with six races remaining – the next in Malaysia on September 29.

Despite his ailing gearbox, after the race Ricciardo confirmed his Red Bull RB13 couldn’t match the speed of Hamilton’s ‘Benz.

“The rain made it all pretty hectic,” Ricciardo said. “My start was quite slow – in hindsight probably a good thing, because it allowed the chaos to unfold in front of me.

“Then in the first few laps I felt we were okay in the wet, but then I felt we were a bit harsh on the tyres.

“Even when we pitted and had fresher tyres, we couldn’t really make an impact on Lewis.

“The team was asking me to manage the gears through the race and afterwards I learned we had a leak and were losing oil pressure in the gearbox from early on.

“Of course, I came here to win and really wanted it, but second place is great and I’m not going to complain about it.”

Formula 1 World Championship driver standings after 14 of 20 races – 1. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Mercedes) 263 points; 2. Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari) 235; 3. Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes) 212; 4. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Red Bull-Renault) 162; 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari) 138; 6. Max Verstappen (Netherlands, Red Bull-Renault) 68; 7. Sergio Perez (Mexico, Force India-Mercedes) 68; 8. Esteban Ocon (France, Force India-Mercedes) 56; 9. Carlos Sainz Junior (Spain, Toro Rosso-Renault) 48; 10. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany, Renault) 34.

F1 constructor standings – 1. Mercedes 475 points; 2. Ferrari 373; 3. Red Bull-Renault 230; 4. Force India-Mercedes 124; 5. Williams-Mercedes 59; 6. Toro Rosso-Renault 52; 7. Renault 42; 8. Haas-Ferrari 37; 9. McLaren-Honda 17; 10. Sauber- Ferrari 5.

Penske team on top –again – for IndyCar title number 15
This morning (Australian time), Roger Penske’s IndyCar team claimed its 15th season title, with 26-year-old American Josef Newgarden becoming the new champion driver, although Penske’s champion from last year, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud, won the final race at Sonoma in California.

Australian Will Power was third and finished fifth in the championship, while New Zealander Scott Dixon wound up third for the season – and the top Honda-powered driver against the Penske-Chevrolets.

SA victory gives Quinn confidence ahead of his home rally
In rallying, Nathan Quinn from Coffs Harbour will go into November’s Rally Australia on his home patch with his first Australian championship round victory under his belt.

Quinn dominated Rally South Australia over the weekend, winning both heats in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and 12 of the event’s 14 stages, four of which were held on Saturday night.

Subaru driver Molly Taylor now has a 30-point lead in her title defence, with 260 points to Quinn’s 230.

Previous championship leader Harry Bates now trails on 175 points after his brand-new AP4 Toyota Yaris did only a few kilometres for the weekend.

Early championship celebrations for Kristoffersson
There’s a new world rallycross champion with two rounds of that four-year-old series to go.

After his fifth straight event win at Riga, in Latvia, Swede Johan Kristoffersson, 28, has an unbeatable 62-point lead over Norwegian teammate and Volkswagen Polo GTi team boss Petter Solberg.

Kristoffersson and Solberg head last year’s champion, fellow Swede Mattias Ekstrom (Audi S1), and French rally great Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot 208).

Solberg, champion driver in the first two World RX seasons, broke a collarbone in a semi-final collision, but his PSRX Volkswagen Sweden squad has clinched the teams championship.