Five themes to watch for in Singapore
Sebastian Vettel stands on the brink of the title, but despite his qualifying pace it won't be straightforward with all the vagaries of Singapore to conquer. Edd Straw analyses the race to come
Vettel's championship charge
Sebastian Vettel can potentially clinch the world championship with five races to spare with a victory or a second place in Singapore. If Vettel wins, he needs Fernando Alonso to be off the podium, with neither Mark Webber nor Jenson Button finishing second, to take the crown. While that turn of events is plausible, it's much less likely that second will be enough. Should Vettel end up as runner-up, he would need Alonso to be outside the top seven, both Webber and Button not to be on the podium and Lewis Hamilton not to win.
The battle for second
Earlier in the weekend, McLaren pairing Hamilton and Button asserted that the battle for second in the championship was meaningless to them. What really matters are results, but with the fight for the drivers' and constructors' championships already over everywhere other than the realm of mathematical possibility, the priority for the McLaren drivers, Alonso and even Webber is to build momentum into next season. Chances are, whichever of them takes second in the points standings will also be the one who achieved that. With Vettel gunning for more wins and the quartet chasing him having nothing to lose, there is no one at the front with an incentive to take it easy.
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