Singapore Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton concedes Nico Rosberg 'deserved' victory after seizing championship lead

Hamilton had to make do with third as he saw his lead in the drivers' championship disappear to Mercedes rival Rosberg

Jack de Menezes
Sunday 18 September 2016 18:18 BST
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Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton wave to the crowd on the podium in Singapore
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton wave to the crowd on the podium in Singapore

Lewis Hamilton conceded that Nico Rosberg had beaten him fair and square in the Singapore Grand Prix after completing a lights-to-flag victory on the Marina Bay Circuit to retake the lead in the drivers’ championship standings.

While Rosberg held off Daniel Ricciardo to win his eighth grand prix of the season, Hamilton was struggling with brake issues and tentative strategy had to be abandoned when the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen passed him during his middle stint.

"Big congratulations to Nico, he drove fantastically well all weekend and fully deserved the win," said Hamilton.

"I feel like I did everything I could. A very trying weekend, these ones come along sometimes and you just have to take it on the chin sometimes."

Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff admitted after the race that the team had “failed” Hamilton on Friday when he was hampered by reliability issues, and it meant that he was never in a position to challenge Ricciardo for second place. The result was a 10-point swing in the championship standings in Rosberg’s favour, and the rejuvenated German heads into the last six races of the season with a two-point advantage and two more wins to his name than his Mercedes teammate.

"He started on the back foot by not having enough laps," Wolff said after the race. "He couldn't really double check the set-up, he wasn't happy with the set-up, the car wasn't like it was. He got off the start well but when the brake temps kicked in it took him a while to manage them. It was just a bad weekend for him."

Rosberg now leads Hamilton by eight points in the drivers' standings

Mercedes did at least deserve credit for taking the decision to pit Hamilton with 13 laps remaining as the undercut allowed him to re-pass Raikkonen to secure a podium finish.

"We were both pushing quite hard in that stint and we both wouldn't have made it to the end at that pace we were going," Hamilton added.

"I was pushing on that out lap to see if we could undercut him, and fortunately we did."

Rosberg on his way to victory in the Singapore Grand Prix

Wolff added that he expects the championship battle to “go down to the wire”, and also said that neither can afford off-weekends if they are to win the title come the end of the season.

"They are so close together in terms of performance," Wolff said. "One bad weekend is enough and the other has an advantage. It's going to go down the wire."

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