Formula 1 2018 15 2018-09-16 2018-09-16 https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/thumb/fpf5w71577557313.jpg https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/poster/ucjzm11537008171.jpg The Singapore Grand Prix is a motor race which forms part of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The event takes place on the Marina Bay Street Circuit and was the inaugural night race and first street circuit in Asia for F1 races. First organised in 1961, the race was initially known as the Orient Year Grand Prix. The following year, the race was renamed the Malaysian Grand Prix. After Singapore attained its independence in 1965, the race at the Thomson Road circuit was renamed to the Singapore Grand Prix. The event was discontinued after 1973 and a variety of reasons have been suggested, including an increase in traffic, the very high danger and unsuitability of the track for racing, the inconvenience of having to close roads for the event and fatal accidents during the 1972 and 1973 races. The 2018 Singapore Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 2018 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix) is a Formula One motor race scheduled to be held on 16 September 2018 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore. The race will be the fifteenth round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and will mark the nineteenth running of the Singapore Grand Prix and the eleventh time the race will be held at Marina Bay. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton cruised to victory in the Singapore Grand Prix to strengthen his hold on this year's World Championship. Hamilton's controlled drive from a pole position won brilliantly on Saturday was helped by the latest in a series of questionable strategy calls from Ferrari. It dropped Hamilton's title rival Sebastian Vettel from second to third behind Max Verstappen, throwing away a position the German had earned by overtaking the Red Bull driver on the first lap. Hamilton's only worrying moment was caused by back markers at about two-thirds distance. Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Williams' Sergey Sirotkin ignored the closing Hamilton in the heat of their battle for position and cost him his five-second advantage over Verstappen. At the front, there was a distinct lack of tension, as the drivers spent the vast majority of the race lapping seconds off their maximum potential to ensure they made the appropriate stint lengths. It was a similar story to Monaco in May, when the hyper-soft tyre tyre was also used and teams were similarly trying to eke their tyres out to do a one-stop strategy. Once he had fended off Verstappen's attack, Hamilton cruised to victory, the Dutchman held at arm's length, and Vettel cruising similarly behind. Their team-mates Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo were playing a similar game of cat and mouse as they took the remaining positions in the top six. Hamilton's victory, with Vettel third behind Verstappen, extended the Briton's advantage over the German in the championship to 40 points with six races and a maximum of 150 points remaining. 570153