Lewis Hamilton has gone three points clear of his Mercedes teammate in Nico Rosberg in the race for the Formula One drivers' championship after winning the Singapore grand prix.
Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton. 2014. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Germany's Rosberg couldn't get his car moving at the start of the formation lap and he had to start from the pitlane, but he lasted only 14 laps when he couldn't get the car going despite a change of steering wheel.
In contrast it couldn't have been a better weekend for Briton Hamilton who arrived in Singapore trailing Rosberg by 22 points and won the race by 13 seconds to take a three-point lead in the championship with five races remaining.
The Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo were second and third folllowed by Ferrari's of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in his Williams.
Hamilton got away cleanly and appeared well on course for an easy victory until a seven-lap safety car period midway through the race altered the strategies of the three cars behind him, with all of them opting to run to the finish on the same tyres.
The Briton had yet to use both types of tyre - a mandatory requirement for every race - so needed to forge as big a lead as possible to give himself a comfortable advantage ahead of his final pitstop.
