Hamilton
pursuit of Senna mark ends in frustration
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[September 21, 2015]
By John O'Brien
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Mercedes' Lewis
Hamilton was in the form of his life when he arrived in Singapore,
looking set to match the 41 career wins of his boyhood idol Ayrton Senna
in a dominant season that had seen him win seven of the first 12 grands
prix.
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By the end of Sunday's race, however, the Briton had retired his
sluggish Mercedes for the first time this year, while Sebastian
Vettel roared to victory in his Ferrari.
Hamilton had secured 11 of 12 poles prior to Singapore but the alarm
bells that first sounded in practice were ringing loud and clear by
qualifying as Ferrari and Red Bull were lapping roughly a second
faster than the Silver Arrows.
Banished to an unaccustomed third-row start, Hamilton and team mate
Nico Rosberg were in damage limitation mode from the outset and
never appeared fast enough to catch the leaders as their poorly
performing tyres negated the car's superior power.
Vettel, meanwhile, was back to his supreme best, driving like he had
for Red Bull when he won four world titles in a row.
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Dominating from the front and shrugging off two safety car periods,
as well as a track intruder, Vettel roared to a fourth triumph in
Singapore.
It was the German's third victory in his debut season for Ferrari
and he was chased home by former Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo
and current ally Kimi Raikkonen to complete an unfamiliar looking
podium in a Mercedes-dominated era.
Hamilton retired with power issues after 32 laps as Rosberg claimed
fourth, reducing the gap to the Briton in the championship standings
to 41 points with six rounds left.
Vettel lurks a further eight adrift.
'CLOSE THIS CHAPTER'
Vettel quipped "maybe we can make the impossible possible" when
asked if he could overhaul Hamilton in the title race but the
general consensus in the paddock suggests Mercedes will be back on
top when racing reconvenes in Japan this week.
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"Our reliability is really high as we had an amazing season so far,"
said Hamilton, who opted to save his engine and retire rather than
run to the finish at the back of the field.
"It's still a long way to go and I know I lost some points today but
I was fast and on form and I will make sure I bring that out to
Suzuka to fight back."
Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff felt the lack of performance was
track related and the tight, 23-turn Marina Bay Street Circuit and
tropical conditions had played into the hands of Ferrari and Red
Bull.
"We need to analyze everything precisely, understand the wrong turn
that we took this weekend to learn the right lessons and then close
this chapter," he said.
"One bad weekend doesn't overshadow our achievements so far this
year but there is no room for complacency after a race like this and
we will aim to hit back strongly next weekend."
Hamilton played down the missed opportunity to emulate Senna in
exactly the same number of race starts but can feel confident that
his 162nd grand prix next Sunday will be far more enjoyable than the
last one.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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