Singapore GP: Vettel takes over from Hamilton

Lewis forced into retirement from the lead of the race after gearbox failure

Sebastian Vettel has trimmed Fernando Alonso's lead of the World Championship to 29 points after winning a Singapore GP that looked to be the property of Lewis Hamilton until the McLaren driver's retirement with a broken gearbox.

In a rough and ragged race, Hamilton's cruel retirement from what had appeared to be a comfortable lead was the marathon's defining moment - and very possibly a decisive moment in the title race as well.

With Hamilton relegated from second to fourth in the standings, the Englishman now trails Alonso by over fifty points which is the equivalent of two race wins but still amounts to a tall - if not insurmontable - order whichever way you look at it. Vettel, on the other hand, is now ominiously positioned behind Alonso to claim a third successive title.

Though anything but a classic, this was a ragged race which developed like the plot of a classic western movie. The good: Vettel's faultless performance both before and after Hamilton's premature exit to secure victory ahead of Jenson Button and Alonso; the bad: Hamilton's luckless retirement through no fault of his own; The ugly: Michael Schumacher's inexplicable shunt into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso which drew the afternoon's Safety Car deployment and the prospect of official ramifications for the veteran.

Vettel himself only narrowly avoided an accident of his own after braking sharply in front of Jenson Button as the field snaked around behind the Safety Car. That incident, though, was the only blemish in an otherwise impeccable display from a driver who had bore a face like thunder after a messy qualifying hour on Saturday. With twenty-fours, the grimace had been replaced by a grin and an emotional outpouring which revealed plenty about Vettel's mind-set this weekend.

On the podium, Alonso's smile was less pronounced. It was certainly there, and the Spaniard will have welcomed Hamilton's retirement both for the extra points and the reduction of his former team-mate's title prospects, but Ferrrari's lack of pace will be of considerable concern. The championship leader has not won a grand prix for over two months and, on this weekend's evidence, Ferrari have apparently fallen further behind both Red Bull and McLaren.