The First 20 Seconds Of The Singapore GP Were Complete Carnage

Rain started to fall shortly before the start of the Singapore GP, but that had little effect on what was to happen at the first corner.

Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen both made a pretty even getaway from the line as Vettel moved across to protect his lead into turn one. The only problem is that his teammate Kimi Raikkonen had made an epic launch from fourth on the grid and was moving past the pair of them.

With Vettel moving across and Verstappen having nowhere to go, the three cars met in the middle, spearing Raikkonen into the side of his teammate and putting himself and Verstappen out of the race instantly, taking the fast-starting McLaren of Fernando Alonso with them for good measure.

Vettel continued at the head of the field - but not for long. A couple of corners later he span on fluid that had come from the freshly-pierced hole in the side of his car, and he too was out.

Despite the first lap drama and the tricky conditions, the rest of the race was rather sedate. Lewis Hamilton comfortably took his third victory on the bounce, extending his championship lead over Vettel to 28 points. Daniel Ricciardo finished second and Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas was third.

It was something of a race of attrition as only 12 of the 20 starters making it to the end of the race, with Carlos Sainz Jr. (fourth), Jolyon Palmer (sixth), and Stoffel Vandoorne (seventh) each taking career-best results.

This was a race in which Vettel and Ferrari were expected to do well at, and where Hamilton and Mercedes expected to struggle. Therefore for Lewis to extend his championship lead by 28 points with just six races left to go is a huge boost for the Brit. That dramatic turn one crash could turn out to be a pivotal moment in this year’s World Championship.