Nico Rosberg claimed his third straight victory and his eighth of the season so far with a hard fought battle in Singapore, to give the German the championship lead with an eight-point advantage over Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Rosberg took a lights to flag victory, only losing the lead during the pit stops, but it wasn’t an easy win as Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished just 0.488 seconds adrift as he tried a late strategy switch in the hope of fighting for the victory in the final laps.
Hamilton was third, but at one point looked to have lost out on the final podium spot to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen as the Finn managed to pass Hamilton on-track. But a strategic call to undercut Raikkonen at his next stop gave Hamilton the place back and he eventually finished two seconds ahead.
Sebastian Vettel claimed Driver of the Day on Singapore thanks to a charging drive from last place on the grid to fifth, finishing just 17 seconds off his own team-mate.
Max Verstappen was sixth. The Red Bull driver contributed to an early Safety Car when he got a slow start, forcing those around him to take action, which saw Nico Hulkenberg tagged by Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso, spinning the Force India into the wall and ending his race before it had even begun.
The Safety Car soon pitted, much to the susprise of a marshal clearing the circuit, who quickly sprinted to the escape road as the pack approached at full speed.
McLaren's Fernando Alonso enjoyed a good start and sat fifth at the restart, a position he remainded until the closing laps when he lost out to Vettel and Verstappen, to eventually finish seventh and claim another handful of points.
Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat and Kevin Magnussen completed the top ten.
There were three retirements with Jenson Button calling it a day mid-race, whilst Valtteri Bottas' seatbelt became undone and his engine overheated as his engineer tightened his straps. Hulkenberg the third retireee.
Romain Grosjean didn't start the race after suffering trouble with his car as he made his way to the grid.
