Hot chase on a hazy night

[SINGAPORE] Lewis Hamilton sped ahead of the pack in Sunday's 2014 Singapore Grand Prix for his seventh win of the season.

The Mercedes driver now takes over the Formula One world championship lead from his team-mate and main rival Nico Rosberg, who failed to finish the race. Besides the two Mercedes aces, only one other driver has won so far this season - Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Following a downpour on Saturday night after the qualifying session, there was no rain to mix things up at the 5.065-km-long Marina Bay Street Circuit on a hot, hazy and humid night.

Hamilton, who started in pole, finished the race with spectacular pace. He crossed the finish line 13 seconds ahead of second-placed Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. The British driver also won here in 2010. He now has 241 points to Rosberg's 238, after the latter, who had qualified second, had to start the race from the pit lane after an electronics problem caused his car to stall on the grid on the formation lap. He subsequently retired on lap 15. Each race win is worth 25 points.

As for Vettel, this was his best finish this year. The German was the winner of the last three races here but reliability problems means he was on the podium only twice in 2014, with both being third-place wins. This is in stark contrast to 2013, when the F1 defending champion won 13 of 2013's 19 races, including the last nine.

But with Rosberg in the pit lane on Sunday, Vettel, who was fourth on the grid, had an easy start without anyone in front of him.

Fending off team-mate Ricciardo, who had qualified third, he slotted in behind Hamilton in second position. Ricciardo eventually finished the race third, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso behind him.

As it has happened every year, the safety car was deployed - this time on lap 32 - after a Force India kissed the back of a Sauber, disintegrating its front wing and scattering carbon fibre debris all over the track. When the safety car finally went in after five laps, Hamilton zipped away on the bumpy track, leaving Vettel, Ricciardo and Alonso in his wake.

This was the seventh edition of the Singapore Grand Prix but it was still as exciting for many reasons. One was the brand new noise. This year's introduction of new engines transformed the sounds around Marina Bay. There was still a lot of noise but it was distinctly different.

The Formula One cars lining up on the grid this year are quieter and more efficient because the previous normally aspirated 2.4-litre V8 engines have been replaced by 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 units with energy recovery systems.

The V8 scream is gone and there is now an angry grunt with the occasional wheeze in corners. But depending on where you are at trackside, you may not need to wear ear plugs.

Sunday's race was supposed to be the first to introduce a restriction on radio communications between the drivers in their cars and their engineers in the pit lane. But that ban has now been delayed until 2015. The controversial move was originally implemented by F1 authorities to prevent the transmission of performance-related information. But the coaching of drivers and their driving techniques remains forbidden.

This year saw a new title sponsor for the Singapore race, with Singapore Airlines (SIA) taking over from SingTel, which had helmed the first six editions of the iconic night race. SIA has a two-year contract as title sponsor and is understood to be paying an amount similar to what SingTel paid in its last year of sponsorship, or under S$10 million.

But the recipe was the same, if not better. Formula One's first night race is the only grand prix that feels like a carnival. In addition to food and drink stands and merchandise stalls all around the circuit, there are also unusual on-track events such as a Ferrari owners' charity drive and a support race featuring classic F1 cars.

But the biggest highlight has to be the concerts featuring pop acts such as the Pet Shop Boys and John Legend, plus headliners Robbie Williams and Jennifer Lopez, with elaborate stages and lighting. The massive entertainment budget - this year's is said to be close to S$10 million - has made the Singapore Grand Prix one big trackside party for the fans. The atmosphere is sensational, and those in the hospitality suites were in for an even bigger treat this year with a more extravagant food and beverage spread.

According to race promoter Singapore GP, 84,454 general walkabout, grandstand and hospitality tickets were sold, with a total of 253,362 visitors over the three-day weekend for the third highest attendance. Last year's number was 87,500 tickets, with more than 260,000 fans attending the race weekend. The first race in 2008 had the highest ticket sales of 100,000.