Sebastian Vettel’s bid for a fifth Singapore Grand Prix came to an end on the opening lap after a coming together with Max Verstappen and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen heading into turn one.
In the first wet start in the history of the Singapore Grand Prix, the pole sitter moved across to defend his position from Verstappen, but unfortunately this left the Red Bull Racing driver in a compromising position as a fast starting Raikkonen had got alongside the Dutchman.
The three drivers came together, with Raikkonen suffering damage as he was speared into the wall, and then slid out-of-control into the turn, hitting Verstappen and the innocent Fernando Alonso.
Raikkonen and Verstappen were out on the spot, while Alonso managed to keep going for a few laps only for the damage he suffered in the incident to become too much, and the McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team racer retired in the pits.
Vettel appeared to get away with the incident and retained the lead into turn one, but the German was in the wall again on the run down to turn five after losing control of his SF70H, removing his front wing. He rejoined at the back of the pack but was advised to stop on track by his engineers, ending his afternoon.
The safety car was deployed for the incident, with cars going through the pit lane to avoid the debris, with Lewis Hamilton in the lead ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg, while stewards will investigate the incident post-race.
Fernando Alonso finds himself the innocent victim at turn one – Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd
