Lewis Hamilton surprised at 'crazy' Singapore Grand Prix win

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Mercedes F1 driver Lewis HamiltonImage source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Hamilton claimed his seventh win of the season and his 60th career victory

Lewis Hamilton said he was struggling to believe his victory in a "crazy" Singapore Grand Prix that put him in control of the title race.

The Mercedes driver leads rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari by 28 points with 125 remaining after the German retired in a first-lap crash.

"I needed a miracle," Hamilton said after dominating a race that started wet and featured three safety cars.

"The rain was a miracle. I had no idea it would be such a positive outcome."

Hamilton started fifth after struggling in qualifying but was up to second at the first corner behind Vettel, after the German collided with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen after the Finn had come together with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was pincered between the two Ferraris as Vettel moved left.

Vettel retired immediately afterwards with damage from the incident and Hamilton dominated the race.

But he said his comfortable lead would not make him alter his approach to the season.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Hamilton took advantage of the early collision between the Ferrari drivers

"I definitely won't change anything, there is no reason to," said Hamilton.

"It is a perfect balance of being aggressive and cautious at the same time, the formula works at the moment so just continue with it.

"It is still soaking in. My 60th grand prix win and also the (points) gap - it is hard to believe.

"It was a long, long race and I definitely went into the race thinking it was about damage limitation, to minimise the loss somehow.

"If I'd got stuck behind Kimi I could have been finishing fifth so I could have come out of it a lot worse, so to come out the complete other direction for sure is a shock.

"But I'll take it. I'm grateful for it and we have worked so hard as a team that fortunate conditions just fell into our direction and we capitalised on it."

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Driver of the day: The reasons for Mercedes' turnaround from Saturday to Sunday remain unclear, even to the team, but Lewis Hamilton was at his magnificent best, totally in control of a race in which he was expected to struggle. It was one of his greatest wins

Media caption,

How does Jack Nicholls prepare for the Singapore GP?

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