F1: 10 talking points from the Singapore Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of equalling Ayrton Senna’s record of 41 grand prix wins this weekend vanished at a scorching Singapore, as Ferrari produced a massive performance gain over Mercedes for the first time this season.

After qualifying on pole nearly half a second ahead of anyone else, Sebastian Vettel controlled the race in indomitable style, with Daniel Ricciardo finished second for a resurgent Red Bull.

The four-time world champion now has three wins to his name in 2015 – the same number as Nico Rosberg – and sits just eight points behind his German compatriot, third in the drivers standings. Lewis Hamilton is 41 points further ahead after failing to finish the race.

It’s likely that normal order will be restored next week as F1 travels to the much cooler venue of Suzuka, although Vettel hasn’t given up on a maiden Ferrari title just yet. "Maybe we can make the impossible possible,” said the German. “We have a small chance and will go for it."

The Silver Arrows endured an extraordinary weekend of their own as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg saw an advantage of half a second per lap in the last race disintegrate into a 1.5-second deficit.

Such a loss of performance in the space of just two weeks is almost unprecedented, although Merc’s inability to get the tyres working effectively in hot climates goes a long way to explaining their struggles in south east Asia.

A baffled Rosberg said afterwards: “I really hope that these were unique circumstances and our car didn't suit the track and conditions. The problem is that we don't really understand why Red Bull and Ferrari were so much quicker here.”

It’s the first time in the hybrid era that pole and the chequered flag have been claimed together by a car that isn’t powered by Mercedes. It’s only taken 32 races...

Okay, so they might have had two drivers on the podium in Hungary instead of just the one this weekend, but Red Bull were genuine challengers right from the off this time as Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat came home second and sixth respectively.

In the hands of Ricciardo, the Renault-powered RB11 left Kimi Raikkonen for dead in the latter stages, although his Russian teammate had a less successful weekend as Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas jumped ahead on strategy.

“If it hadn't been for the Safety Car, we'd have got pretty close and maybe an undercut would have been possible,” said Ricciardo. “Making both stops under the Safety Car affected our chances and I think that dictated the race really.”

The result comes days after news broke that Red Bull and Renault were ending their relationship after nearly two years of turmoil. The quadruple constructors champions will likely look to buy engines from Ferrari for the next couple of years, with VW rumoured to be a long term solution.

Watch this space.

Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were the victims of strange mechanical failures on Sunday, with electrical components suspected as the root cause in each case.

Hamilton’s problem was eventually diagnosed as an internal clamp coming loose within the car causing a ‘boost leak’, while Massa suffered a gearbox problem shortly after his collision with Nico Hulkenberg.

Carlos Sainz also had a brief spell where his Toro Rosso wouldn’t shift out of neutral on lap 19, while Manor debutant Alexander Rossi’s radio failed in the second half of the race.

The Singapore GP has long been surrounded by rumours that the local metro system – which passes under the circuit between Turns 12 and 13 – emits static interference that can damage race cars.

The theory has never been proven. Top Gear suspects ghosts.

Several teams had problems in the Singapore pit lane, as countless stops were delayed by faulty wheel guns failing to latch onto replacement rims.

Jenson Button was the worst hit, as his mechanics spent more than half a minute frantically attending to his front right tyre. The helpless Brit was sat stationary for a total of 39.3 seconds, roughly 13 times longer than teams aim for on each stop.

One theory (perhaps more likely than metro-electricity-gate) is that the heat in Singapore caused the metal components on the pit lane to change shape, making them less reliable.

Luckily for Jenson, it didn’t cost him any points as he retired on lap 53.

The Singapore grand prix is one of the toughest challenges of the year, with the drivers usually having to endure the heat and humidity for the maximum of two hours allowed under F1 guidelines.

This race was no different as Sebastian Vettel completed his last lap with seconds to spare on the clock, recording a chequered flag time of 2:01:22.

Such a physical challenge makes it of paramount importance that the drivers replace the fluid lost as sweat while the race is in progress. However, Nico Rosberg had to be told to “remember to drink” over the team radio, while Sebastian Vettel had to go without water entirely after his bottle failed midway through.

Fortunately for Sebastian, there was plenty of refreshing liquid waiting for him on the podium.

Pastor came under fire from Mark Webber last week, with the Aussie saying he was “not performing”, but the Venezuelan has not been fazed and is now guaranteed a drive at Lotus next year.

With Renault reportedly in the process of buying the financially troubled Lotus outfit, the millions that Maldonado brings in the form of sponsorship has seen the team re-sign the 30-year-old.

Romain Grosjean – who has scored almost three times as many points as his teammate this season – looks vulnerable and could leave for new entrants Haas F1 in the winter.

In Singapore, Maldonado put in another kamikaze display which culminated in Jenson Button breaking his front wing on lap 41. “I should have known,” said the McLaren driver on team radio.

JB remained less than impressed after the race, saying: "You can't do that in F1, especially around a circuit like this - but it's not the last time he'll do it. He hasn't changed, and he won't ever change."

For the second time this season (after a fan breached the pit wall in China to ‘ask for a drive’ at Ferrari) an intruder interrupted a live F1 session, the man in question breaking onto the circuit on lap 37.

In a bizarre incident between Turns 13 and 14, the trespasser casually ambled along the track before eventually hopping back out of sight again as the Safety Car was deployed.

A 27-year-old male was later arrested, although it has not been announced whether he has been charged.

Daniel Ricciardo tried to see the lighter side of events afterwards, saying: “It looked like he was on his phone, taking some videos or photos for Instagram or something. Hopefully for his sake he got more followers, because it has to be worth the night in prison.”

Oddly, Valterri Bottas leapt into an unlikely fifth place ahead of Daniil Kvyat in the ensuing flood of pit stops, congratulating his team on a “good job” over the radio. Could it be the case that the intruder was a dedicated Williams fan? We can only speculate.

The young driver – who reaches the ripe old age of 18 at the end of the month – enjoyed several highs and a couple of lows over the course of the race in Singapore.

Verstappen’s Toro Rosso failed to move at the start, and he’d already been lapped two minutes into the race, although the safety car soon brought him back into contention.

He then spent the evening picking off his rivals with a series of brilliant overtakes, eventually climbing above teammate Carlos Sainz to sit behind seventh placed Sergio Perez.

There was controversy at the end, though, as Toro Rosso asked Verstappen to allow Sainz – who was on fresher tyres at the time - through in order challenge the Force India driver up ahead. The request was met with a firm “No!” over the radio.

Toro Rosso later backed Verstappen, with Franz Tost saying: “We calculated that Carlos could've had a better chance to attack Perez, but he didn't close the gap to Max well enough to really demonstrate that he could do this.”

Max was also relieved that his decision proved correct, claiming father Jos would have “kicked me in the nuts” if he’d obeyed the order. Crikey.

There was more drama once the race had finished, as Ferrari were forced to offer an “unconditional apology” after personnel broke past security in their haste to reach parc ferme.

The mechanics were rushing to celebrate victory with Sebastian Vettel, knocking barriers out of their path in an attempt to gain access to an area filled with official photographers.

A statement from the FIA claimed “some members of Scuderia Ferrari failed to obey instructions of relevant officials and behaved in an inappropriate manner.”

Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene will now have to write to everyone affected assuring them that “there will not be a recurrence.”

So not quite the perfect weekend for the Italians after all.