Singapore GP: Zero points for Williams Martini

The sixty one lap 2016 Singapore Grand Prix would see the Williams Martini drivers start from tenth and eleventh. Both drivers would start on the ultrasoft tyre while those in front of them would be on a mix of supersoft and ultrasoft tyres with both Red Bull's were on the supersoft tyres. Valtteri Bottas would start on new ultrasoft tyres while Felipe Massa was on two lap old ultrasoft tyres. Grosjean would start from the pit lane after issues with his car. Vettel would start from last on the soft tyre while at the front Rosberg was on pole followed by Ricciardo, Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Sainz, Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Valtteri tenth. The formation lap would commence and the drivers would return forming up behind Rosberg. Grosjean was out of his car and out of the race even before the start.

The lights would go on and then off and it would be Rosberg leading but Hulkenberg would be turned around at the start and immediately the Safety Car would be deployed. Hulkenberg's car was badly damaged after hitting the pit wall. Hulkenberg had made contact with Sainz with both cars trying to avoid a slow starting Verstappen. For Williams Valtteri was seen with a left rear puncture. There was a rush of cars all pitting under the Safety Car. Valtteri's car was damaged around the rear but the team would still send him out after having swapped to the soft tyre. Button had also pitted with a damaged front wing. Valtteri had said that he had been hit at the first corner.

The field would be used to go through the pit lane while the damaged Force India was removed. Rosberg was leading from Ricciardo and Hamilton as the race restarted on lap four. Raikkonen was fourth followed by Alonso and Kvyat. Felipe was running in ninth while Valtteri was down in nineteenth but having made a stop. Sainz in seventh was running with a damaged barge board on the right side of his car. Verstappen was ninth followed by Felipe and Magnussen. lap five and Rosberg was leading by 2.2 seconds over Ricciardo. Perez was in thirteenth but on the soft tyre. Kvyat was running in sixth while team-mate Sainz was told to pit to be the damaged parts of his car sorted out. Valtteri was up to eighteenth and Vettel fifteenth both on the soft tyre.

Sainz would pit on lap nine coming back out in twentieth running on the supersoft tyre. Felipe was now eighth after Sainz's pit stop. Rosberg would be told that he must start to look at his brake management. He was now leading by 3.9 seconds after lap ten. Valtteri was now sixteenth as Hamilton was also told to look after his front brakes. Lap thirteen and Rosberg was leading by 6.1 seconds over Ricciardo. For Williams Felipe was 1.4 seconds behind seventh placed Verstappen while Valtteri was still sixteenth. Verstappen would pit on lap fifteen taking on the supersoft tyres. He would come back out in fifteenth passing Occon for fourteenth. Alonso would pit from fifth on lap sixteen coming back out in twelfth running on new supersoft tyres. This would see Felipe now sixth behind Kvyat.

Lap seventeen and Ricciardo would pit joined by Hamilton and Kvyat. Ricciardo would come out on supersoft tyres and Hamilton soft. The pair were fourth and fifth with Raikkonen now second and Felipe third. Kvyat had dropped to twelfth running on new supersoft tyres. Valtteri had pitted from sixteenth coming back out in nineteenth. Rosberg would pit on lap eighteen coming back out on the soft tyre after a slowish stop. Raikkonen was now leading from Rosberg, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Magnussen and Gutierrez. Felipe had also pitted returning in thirteenth running on new supersoft tyres. Raikkonen would pit on lap nineteen taking on new supersoft tyres. Hamilton would be back in front of Raikkonen. Perez was sixth and Vettel seventh followed by Alonso, Kvyat, and Verstappen tenth. Felipe was eleventh and Valtteri nineteenth.

Kvyat and Verstappen were having a major fight with the Torro Rosso driver aiming to keep the Red Bull behind. Felipe was now in tenth and closing in onto Verstappen. At the front Rosberg was leading Ricciardo by 6.1 seconds. Hamilton was third followed by Raikkonen, Perez, Vettel, Alonso, Kvyat, Verstappen, and Felipe. Both Perez and Vettel were on the soft tyre. Valtteri was down in seventeenth his race ruined by the early pit stop and the damage to his car. Lap twenty three and Ricciardo had lowered the gap to Rosberg to 4.5 seconds. Hamilton was now 11.2 seconds behind Rosberg. Vettel would pit on lap twenty six taking on new ultrasoft tyres. Also on the soft tyre Perez would pit on lap twenty seven returning on a new set of soft tyres in thirteenth and behind Vettel. This would see Felipe now eighth and Valtteri fifteenth.

Raikkonen was closing in onto third placed Hamilton while Vettel had moved up to tenth passing Sainz. Verstappen would pit again on lap twenty nine joined by Sainz. Verstappen would return in thirteenth running on the supersoft tyre. Sainz was seventeenth and running on the soft tyre. Felipe would pit on lap thirty taking on new ultrasoft tyres running in thirteenth behind Nasr. Team-mate Valtteri was running in fourteenth running on used supersoft tyres. Rosberg was leading Ricciardo by 4.3 seconds with Hamilton third followed by Raikkonen, Alonso, Kvyat, Magnussen, Vettel, Gutierrez, and Perez tenth. Verstappen would pass Perez for tenth while for Williams Valtteri would pit dropping to eighteenth running on ultrasoft tyres.

Lap thirty four and Ricciardo would pit taking on the soft tyre and returning in fourth. In front of him Raikkonen would be able to get past Hamilton after Hamilton had locked up his right front allowing Raikkonen to pass. Rosberg would also pit joined by Raikkonen. Rosberg and Raikkonen would both take on new soft tyres while Valtteri would pit again and it was reported that this was in order to have his seat belts tightened up. Valtteri was down in nineteenth with his race turning out to be a disaster. Hamilton would pit on lap thirty six seeing Rosberg again leading from Ricciardo. Hamilton was on new soft tyres running in fourth. The top four were all now on the same tyre for their runs to the end. Vettel was closing in onto fifth placed Kvyat but he would have to stop again. Alonso had pitted and was back out in ninth running on the soft tyre.

Felipe was now eleventh 3.1 seconds behind Perez having passed Gutierrez. Gutierrez would pit on lap thirty eight as Valtteri pitted again this time to retire. For Valtteri his race went wrong at Turn one with the contact and having to pit. Kvyat would pit coming back out in eleventh seeing Felipe now in tenth. Verstappen would pass Magnussen for sixth with Magnussen pitting on lap forty dropping to eleventh and running on new supersoft tyres. Vettel was fifth followed by Verstappen, Alonso, Perez, and Felipe ninth. Twenty laps remaining and Rosberg was leading by 3.8 seconds over Ricciardo. Vettel would pit on lap forty four coming back out in sixth and on new ultrasoft tyres. For Williams Felipe would pit again on lap forty six taking on the ultrasoft tyre, returning in thirteenth. Verstappen would also pit on lap forty six dropping to ninth running on new soft tyres. Button had retired in his pit as Hamilton also came in on lap forty seven taking on supersoft tyres. Hamilton was able to get back out still in fourth with Vettel a considerable margin behind him. Hamilton's stop would see Ferrari pit Raikkonen switching him to ultrasoft tyres returning in fourth behind Hamilton.

Raikkonen was running right behind Hamilton as Ricciardo also pitted on lap forty nine. He would return on supersoft tyres still in second but 29.09 seconds behind Rosberg. Rosberg was told to now push hard. Kvyat would be passed by Verstappen and Perez dropping to ninth. Alonso was now sixth followed by Verstappen, Perez, Kvyat, and Magnussen tenth. Rosberg was now going to have to stay out as if he pitted he would drop behind Raikkonen. Lap fifty two and Rosberg's lead had dropped to 15.3 seconds with the cars behind him a lot faster that him. For Williams Felipe was out of the points in twelfth. Verstappen had passed Alonso for sixth as on lap fifty six Rosberg was leading by only 7.0 seconds. Felipe would go one lap down as Ricciardo continued to close the gap to Rosberg. It was looking like Ricciardo will be right on Rosberg with a few laps remaining. But on lap fifty eight Ricciardo would only find few tenths n Rosberg.

Lap fifty nine and Rosberg was now leading by 4.6 seconds with just three laps remaining. It was looking like Ricciardo had faded just a bit in his efforts to close the gap to Rosberg. With two laps remaining Rosberg was just keeping the loss to Ricciardo down to as little as possible. Rosberg would start his final lap with a 2.0 second lead. But Ricciardo would continue to push closing it to 1.1 seconds seeing the Mercedes ahead of him. Rosberg would take the final series of corners taking victory in the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix. Ricciardo would finish second followed by Hamilton, Raikkonen, Vettel, Verstappen, Alonso, Perez, Kvyat, and Magnussen taking the single point. For Williams Felipe would finish in twelfth out of the points and Valtteri had retired in his garage. Not the result the team was hoping for which seems to be the common story of the last few races. On top of this the Williams team would lose their fourth place in the championship to be behind Force India by a single point.