Jack Leslie F1: 2014 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures

The Marina Bay Street Circuit hosted yet another dramatic and action-packed F1 weekend, with Lewis Hamilton storming to Singapore Grand Prix victory under the lights.

The unique night race around the streets of Singapore always produces some stunning photography. Here is the race weekend in pictures.

The images featured in this piece are courtesy of Octane Photographic.

Friday

First practice took place on Friday evening, with Fernando Alonso setting the pace for Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel finished practice one in fourth place, but he stopped his car in the closing stages with an engine issue. The problem would cost him the majority of the following session.

Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets in practice two, finishing one and a half tenths ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.

Pastor Maldonado crashed out of the second session, which took place under dark skies. The Venezuelan lost control at turn 10 and hit the wall.

Saturday

Alonso returned to the top in third practice, with Ricciardo in second and Nico Rosberg in third.

Hamilton was clearly pushing hard and suffered a half spin at turn five. He eventually finished in sixth place.

Adrian Sutil and Pastor Maldonado were joined in the Q1 drop-zone in qualifying by Jules Bianchi, Kamui Kobayashi, Max Chilton and Marcus Ericsson.

Jenson Button's McLaren MP4-29 looked stunning under the floodlights, but his qualifying performance wasn't so spectacular. He was eliminated from qualifying in Q2.

Both Force India drivers joined Button in the Q2 drop-zone, with Nico Hulkenberg in 13th and Sergio Perez in 15th. Esteban Gutierrez and Romain Grosjean - "bloody engine" - were also eliminated.

Hamilton snatched pole from his team-mate on his final lap. He was the last driver to cross the line in Q3 and took the top spot on the grid by just 0.007 seconds. Ricciardo was third.

Williams looked move competitive on Saturday in Singapore, but a mistake on his final lap meant Valtteri Bottas could do no better than eighth. Felipe Massa qualified sixth.

A software issue caused Kimi Raikkonen to miss his final run in Q3, which meant he eventually slipped to seventh place. Alonso qualified fifth.
Sunday

An electrical problem within Rosberg's steering wheel caused high drama before the race got under way. He failed to make the formation lap and had to start from the pit lane.

With no one to challenge him, Hamilton had a clean run to the first corner. The two Red Bulls got very close, while Rosberg joined the race from the pits.

A lock-up for Alonso at turn one caused him to run off the circuit at the second corner.

Alonso re-joined the track at turn three, before swiftly giving Vettel back second place. Hamilton made a good jump on the chasing pack.

Rosberg joined the race at the back of the pack after his safety car start, but it soon became clear that the electrical issues were hampering his pace.

The two Toro Rosso drivers battled closely in the opening stages, before Daniil Kvyat seemingly let Jean-Eric Vergne through to chase down Kevin Magnussen.

Gutierrez battled with Perez and the two Lotus drivers early on, but he would eventually retire.

Hamilton quickly established a comfortable lead before the safety car was deployed to remove Perez's destroyed front wing.

Magnussen suffered from an overheating cockpit during the race, which caused him to experience extreme discomfort.

Rosberg soldiered on in the first stint but made up very little ground. He then pitted, which was difficult to say the least, and retired from the race.

Ricciardo held on to fourth early in the race, between the two Ferrari drivers, but moved ahead of Alonso during the safety car period.

Button spent most of the race behind Bottas, before retiring with a power box failure with eight laps to go.

Despite a late third pit stop, Hamilton overtook Vettel and pulled out a 13.5 second lead by the chequered flag.

It was Hamilton's seventh win of 2014, 29th of his career and second in Singapore. He re-took the championship lead from his team-mate.

Vettel finished in second place, with Ricciardo completing the podium. Alonso finished just behind the Red Bull duo at the chequered flag in fourth.

22 September 2014

2014 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures

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