Lewis Hamilton wins Singapore GP and Button extends overall F1 lead by a point

Hamilton wins Singapore GP, Button extends lead

SINGAPORE — McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, while Brawn GP driver Jenson Button extended his Formula One championship lead by one point.

Hamilton started from the pole and protected his lead to finish 9.6 seconds ahead of Timo Glock, who equaled Toyota’s best Formula One result by finishing second. Fernando Alonso gave scandal-hit Renault a lift by finishing third for the French team’s first podium finish of the season.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel finished fourth after ruining his race with a pit lane speeding penalty. Button, who had qualified in 12th, was fifth, one place ahead of teammate and championship rival Rubens Barrichello. Button leads Barrichello by 15 points with three races to go.

“There was a recovery for us, it looked pretty grim yesterday afternoon (after qualifying),” Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn said.

“Our main competitors have not made progress today.”

Red Bull’s Mark Webber exited on lap 45 after a brake failure had sent him spinning off the track. That officially ended the Australian’s slim championship hopes. He had been running fourth in the early part of the race.

“It’s disappointing because it should have been an easy second today,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “It’s a shame because (Vettel) drove a really good race and it was a great recovery to finish in fourth.”

McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen was seventh and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica was eighth.

Hamilton’s only headache came early in the race when his KERS power-boost system failed, but after a few laps without it, the problem was soon rectified.

“The race as pretty straightforward for me,” the 2008 Formula One champion said. “I was never really under serious pressure. When Vettel was behind me I knew I was five laps longer (fueled) and I just had to keep him behind.”

Williams driver Nico Rosberg was running second through the first stint of the race, but crossed the pit road exit lane on his way out after his first stop, and had to serve a drive-through penalty that cost him a chance of any points. He finished 11th.