Lewis wins, Nico retires

This was the one Mercedes nearly threw away.

Nico Rosberg's race almost ended before it began with yet another mechanical failure, while some dubious strategy calls left Lewis Hamilton needing a vital pass in the closing stages to win the Singapore Grand Prix.

What should have been a one-two at a canter was turned into a panic-stricken evening under Marina Bay's glare. Hamilton eventually powered to his seventh victory of the season and a three-point championship lead, making a crucial move on Sebastian Vettel just a handful of laps from the end, while Rosberg retired on lap 13.

The Briton now has the championship lead for the first time in four months, and for only the second time all year. Hamilton told his team: "Fantastic job, guys. It's really starting to pay off."

It was a cruel blow for Rosberg, who suffered all sorts of electrical malfunctions, forcing him to start from the pit lane.

But despite some increasingly agitated radio traffic in the latter stages, Hamilton will not have cared a jot. After all the poor reliability he has been dealt this season, he has finally been put on an even footing. Who said the team were trying to scupper his challenge?

For Mercedes, it was another case of throwing away a one-two finish which should have been won without breaking a sweat. Considering their awesome machine is the fastest on the grid by miles, they have an astonishingly poor record when it comes to making it to the finish. A frustrated but phlegmatic Rosberg echoed such a view.

"We've had a few this year and that's our weakness," he said, while watching Hamilton continue serenely on his way. "We need to get to the bottom of it and make the car 100% reliable.

"I was hoping the team could fix it [after the race had started] because it was going on and off. There's no point in shouting, it's a reliability issue, and it's happened again. It's very, very tough. Also the way in which it happened, not even leaving the grid and everything. It was not good."

What this race highlighted is how desperate the two rivals will be for their cars not to pack in during the final race in Abu Dhabi, when double points are on offer.

Rosberg's race was doomed from the start. On the grid, the team changed his steering wheel twice to try and fix the electrical systems, but he never got away.

Hamilton led from the start, while Vettel got the jump on team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, with Alonso third.

They stayed that way for much of the race until the predictable safety car emerged on lap 31 after Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez tangled. The Red Bulls then tried to go to the end on the harder tyre, while Alonso pitted. Hamilton did not, causing him all sorts of bother at the end.

With each passing lap, he sounded more and more alarmed over the radio. "You should have brought me in a lap earlier," he moaned. "My rear tyres are going to explode."