Vettel clinches incident-filled Grand Prix

Red Bull driver revives title bid with Singapore win.

SINGAPORE: Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel survived an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix to reignite his world title defence with a thrilling victory.

After two safety cars, crashes and the shock retirement of title-challenger Lewis Hamilton, Formula One’s youngest double champion finished in front of McLaren’s Jenson Button for only his second win of the season.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso was third, claiming his eighth podium of the season, while Force India’s Paul di Resta took an impressive fourth and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was fifth, ahead of Lotus’s former world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

With the win, Vettel climbs to second in the standings behind Alonso, who has a reduced lead of 29 points. “This has been one of toughest races of the year,” said Vettel. “There are so many bumps, there’s no room for mistakes and it just seems to go on forever ... I’m just incredibly happy.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2012.