Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton wins the 2017 Singapore GP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has won the 2017 Singapore Formula One Grand Prix as Ferrari suffered a double-DNF. Daniel Ricciardo took his fourth consecutive podium as he finished in second place, while Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes finished in third place.

After a strong performance in qualifying put Sebastian Vettel on pole position on a circuit that was clearly favouring the Ferraris and Red Bulls, everyone was expecting the German to re-take the championship lead after Sunday's race. However, both the red cars were knocked out on the first lap itself.

Rain forced the field to switch to intermediate tyres at the start of the race. Max Verstappen started alongside Vettel with Kimi Raikkonen in third. After the lights went out, Kimi had a clean start and so did Vettel, who tried to squeeze Verstappen's Red Bull off the racing line. Caught in between the two Ferraris, the Red Bull hit Raikkonen's car who in turn, hit his team mate. Raikkonen and Verstappen were knocked out at the first corner taking out Fernando Alonso's McLaren in the process. Vettel survived the initial impact, but spun out around turn 5. A broken radiator forced the championship contender to retire. 

With the top 3 starters out, Lewis Hamilton took over the lead. The safety car was summoned for the first time in the race. After the restart, Hamilton was able to build a comfortable lead over Ricciardo. Daniil Kvyat crashing his Torro Rosso brought the safety car out for the second time.

By lap 24, the track was getting dry enough for slick tyres. Ricciardo pitted on lap 28 for ultrasoft tyres, while Hamilton came into the pits on lap 29 and still retained the lead of the race. The British driver lost his advantage yet again, when Marcus Ericsson spun out and hit the barriers on lap 37 to bring out the safety car for the third time in the race. In the end, Hamilton took the win 4.5 seconds ahead of Ricciardo.

Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) finished fourth, while Sergio Perez took fifth place for Force India followed. Jolyon Palmer (Renault) finished in sixth and Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) took seventh place. Lance Stroll (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Haas) and Esteban Ocon (Force India) completed the top 10.

The win in Singapore sees Lewis Hamilton extend his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 28 points. The next race will be held in Malaysia on October 1, 2017.

World Drivers' Championship standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 263 points

2. Sebastian Vettel - 235 points

3. Valtteri Bottas - 212 points

World Constructors' Championship standings:

1. Mercedes - 475 points

2. Ferrari - 373 points

3. Red Bull - 230 points