Jack Leslie F1: 2015 Singapore Grand Prix In Pictures

With the stunning city skyline as a backdrop, the bright floodlights and beauty of racing at night, the Singapore Grand Prix is one of the most spectacular races of the 2015 season.

Sebastian Vettel dominated to win his third race of the year, with Daniel Ricciardo a close second. Here is the race weekend in pictures.

All of the images featured in this piece are courtesy of Octane Photographic. See more of their work here.

Friday

Nico Rosberg set the pace in the opening practice session of the weekend, but the times were much closer compared to previous races.

Alexander Rossi made his debut as an F1 race driver on Friday after replacing Roberto Merhi at Manor for five of the last seven rounds. He brought out the red flag late in FP1 after crashing at Turn 18.

Despite the session taking place in unrepresentative conditions, it was a busy 90 minutes of running.

Will Stevens brought out a red flag early in FP2 after crashing his Manor car at Turn 12.

Under dark skies, Daniil Kvyat ended practice two fastest for Red Bull, with the team looking competitive around the streets of Singapore.

Saturday

Fernando Alonso showed off McLaren's improved one-lap speed by ending final practice in seventh place.

Vettel was fastest for Ferrari, with Red Bull also looking strong and Mercedes struggling in comparison.

Lewis Hamilton was one of several drivers to take to the Marina Bay Street Circuit escape roads in FP3.

Pastor Maldonado was one of five drivers eliminated in the first part of qualifying. He was 18th fastest, behind Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson. Rossi and Stevens were next up.

Jenson Button narrowly made it through to Q2 but he was slowest in the session, qualifying 15th.

Sergio Perez was also eliminated in Q2, in 13th, behind team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, Alonso and ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr, who hit the wall during the session.

Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa qualified seventh and ninth for Williams, separated by Max Verstappen. Romain Grosjean completed the top 10.

Daniel Ricciardo was second, with Kimi Raikkonen and Kvyat next up. The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg had to settle for fifth and sixth.

No one could beat Vettel and he stormed to his first pole position in over three years, shattering Mercedes' dominance.

Sunday

The order at the front remained the same through the first few corners, but further back there was plenty of movement.

Verstappen had a disastrous start after stalling on the grid. He had to be pushed into the pits, went a lap down and then managed to continue.

Vettel quickly opened up a comfortable advantage over the chasing pack, looking at ease early on.

Ricciardo couldn't match Vettel in the first few laps, before the pace settled down and the gap stabilised.

Massa, Hulkenberg and Perez all made up positions on the opening tour and battled closely early on, although few overtakes took place.

McLaren's race pace didn't live up to its qualifying speed and Alonso soon found himself leading a train of cars.

The Safety Car made to appearances in the race, first for a crash between Hulkenberg and Massa and again for a man on track - yes, really!

Hamilton reported on lap 26 that he had lost power and the Brit eventually retired several laps later.

Verstappen's race was saved by the two Safety Car periods, helping him to move back onto the lead lap and catch the pack.

Maldonado suffered damage to the back of his car after contact with Button in the final part of the race.

Out front, Vettel had things all under control, despite Ricciardo cutting the gap to the Ferrari driver.

The Ferrari team was over-eager to celebrate Vettel's victory and have asked to send a written apology to those affected.

Vettel won by 1.4 seconds, surpassing Ayrton Senna's tally of victories and closing in on the top two in the title fight.

Ricciardo was second, ahead of Raikkonen, Rosberg, Bottas, Kvyat, Perez and Verstappen.

21 September 2015

2015 Singapore Grand Prix In Pictures

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