After race leader, Lewis Hamilton retired, Sebastian Vettel strolled away to comfortably win the Singapore Grand Prix for the second year running. That just left us wondering whether the Red Bull driver might have been able to have challenged his McLaren rival anyway. Vettel thought he could but there was little to go on to argue either way.

Lewis Hamilton clinched pole in dominant fashion, the McLaren driver’s time of 1 minute 46.362 seconds almost half a second ahead of Williams’ Pastor Maldonado who takes the second front-row slot. Only the controversial 2008 running of the Singapore Grand Prix has failed to have been won from pole position and leaves Hamilton in prime position…

Singapore creates a tremendous night-racing spectacle with a fantastic backdrop. And, by being held at night, TV audiences in Europe are able to tune in at a more regular time. However, it does threaten to throw the body clocks of F1 personnel, as it’s important to maintain European time and sleep late…

After the carnage in Spa, and all the mechanical problems at Monza, the World Championship leaves Europe behind for the second major stint of flyaway races and Singapore – the first of seven stops that round out the season. Fernando Alonso heads the standings by 37 points, with Lewis Hamilton leading the group of four main rivals…

While the Championship battle has been nothing to shout about, 2011 has undoubtedly produced some great races. Yet, there seems to be something missing from this season. That extra ingredient that adds a dash of spice to Formula One… a juicy does of controversy.

A ninth victory of the year for Sebastian Vettel took him within a hair’s breadth of becoming the youngest ever double World Champion. Jenson Button leaves him as the only mathematical challenger but even if the McLaren driver won all the remaining races, a single point is now enough for Vettel. Mark Webber completed the podium.