Vettel wins in Singapore

The Singapore Grand Prix got off to an unusual start in a season that Mercedes have so clearly dominated. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari began at the head of the grid and preserved that advantage as the race commenced.

The German driver's primary challenger for the first half of the race was Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Overall standings leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes hung further back, content to stay ahead of his closest rival for the driver's title, teammate Nico Rosberg.

There was a bit of excitement when Felipe Massa and Niko Hulkenberg collided. The German was forced to retire, and stewards penalized him three positions for the next race. Massa would also throw in the towel a few laps later.

Meanwhile at the mid-point of the race, Hamilton reported a loss of power and began falling back dramatically. The Englishman tried resetting his throttle - to no avail - and retired on lap 34 rather than risk destroying his engine. It was the reigning world champ's first non-finish of the season.

The race took a turn for the bizarre when an unidentified man decided to go on an extremely ill-advised walk by the side of the track.

Fortunately, no one was hurt by the man's foolishness, and Vettel took the checkered flag in the night-time race. It was the German's third win of the season and his 42nd career victory, moving him past Formula One legend Ayrton Senna on the all-time tally. Vettel is third on the list - two wins ahead of Hamilton.

"If we have more weekends like this, we can catch Mercedes," Vettel said after his victory. "Maybe we can make the impossible possible - we will definitely go for it."

Ricciardo finished second, and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen third. Nico Rosberg had to settle for fourth place. But the German moved to within 41 points of Hamilton in the driver standings. Vettel is a further eight points behind Rosberg.