Lewis Hamilton opened a commanding 40-point advantage over Formula 1 title rival Sebastian Vettel as he controlled a processional Singapore Grand Prix.
Hamilton led away from pole position and ran a Hypersoft/Soft tyre strategy to control the 61-lap race around Marina Bay, with the Briton rarely challenged up front.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen remained a lingering threat for much of the race – and reeled in Hamilton as they encountered lapped cars mid-race – but ultimately settled for a fine second place.
Vettel took a low-key third as he and Ferrari were out-foxed by Verstappen and Red Bull through the pit stop phase.
Vettel was the first of the front-runners to pit on lap 14 of 61 and took on a set of Ultrasofts, compared to the Softs employed one lap later by Hamilton.
Vettel had jumped Verstappen on the opening lap of the race but his pit stop dropped him behind the yet-to-stop Sergio Perez, and the Red Bull driver used clear air to good advantage.
In spite of a slightly slower stop and a tardy pull away from his box Verstappen was able to edge Vettel as he came out of the pit lane, staying ahead through Turn 3.
From there the positions remained unchanged, though Hamilton’s four-second advantage was whittled away when he encountered lapped traffic mid-race.
Verstappen was mere inches behind Hamilton as they rounded Turn 9 but the Briton stayed ahead and quickly re-asserted an authority that he never relinquished.
Vettel drifted away from Verstappen in the battle for second and ultimately came home a lowly third, his title ambitions taking a further hit.
Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo also converted their respective grid positions as they took fourth, fifth and sixth.
The trio were closely-matched throughout but never seriously battled for position.
Fernando Alonso ran long on Ultrasofts to emerge in seventh spot and retained the place when he emerged from his pit stop, returning McLaren to the points.
Carlos Sainz Jr. did likewise to take eighth place while Charles Leclerc also adopted that strategy to score ninth – his first points since Austria.
Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 for Renault, in front of Marcus Ericsson and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Romain Grosjean slipped down the order and took only 13th, though was relegated behind Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll for ignoring blue flags, while Perez's promising grid position went to waste.
Perez expressed frustration at being dropped in behind Sergey Sirotkin when he made his stop and clashed with the Williams driver as they battled through Turn 16.
Perez was handed a drive-through penalty for his swipe at his rival, and finished ahead of only Brendon Hartley, Kevin Magnussen and the Russian rookie.
It proved to be one incident on a dismal day for Force India.
Esteban Ocon retired on the opening lap after being tipped into the wall at Turn 3 following contact with Force India team-mate Perez.
Stewards investigated the clash but deemed no further action was necessary
The next round of the season will take place in Russia from September 28 to 30
