Lewis Hamilton took full advantage of a rare retirement for arch rival Nico Rosberg as he moved into the championship lead with victory in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton was gifted the lead when Mercedes team-mate Rosberg was forced to start from the pit-lane with an electronic issue, which eventually put him out of the race in the early stages.

While Rosberg’s retirement provided a boost, a Safety Car period at the halfway mark threatened to wreck the Brit’s victory hopes.

But an impressive final two stints, which included a late pit stop and a pass on Sebastian Vettel for the lead, saw him come through to take the chequered flag.

Vettel managed to secure second, his best result of the season, after fending off Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

The victory has allowed Hamilton to open a three point lead at the top of the standings from Rosberg.

There was drama even before the race started as Rosberg reported an electronic malfunction which saw him unable to leave the grid for the formation lap. As a result, he was forced to start from the pit-lane.

Without his rival alongside, Hamilton was unchallenged at the start as he headed Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who leapfrogged the Red Bulls of Vettel and Ricciardo.

Ricciardo lost a spot to Vettel on the run down to the first corner, while McLaren’s Jenson Button shot from 11th to seventh spot at the end of the opening lap.

Rosberg managed to join in the race but was clearly struggling with an electronic issue which affected his upshifts.

Having run wide at the first corner, Alonso gave up second spot to Vettel in fear of copping a penalty for exceeding track limits.

It didn’t take long for Hamilton to settle into a groove opening up a healthy lead over Vettel with Alonso third. Ricciardo held station in fourth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

Massa was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 11 which prompted a wave of pit stops.

Hamilton continued to lead after the first round of stops from Vettel but further back Rosberg’s race came to a premature end as his ongoing electronics issue left him unable to pull away from his pit box, despite a change of steering wheel.

The complexion of the race changed on lap 31 with the deployment of the Safety Car for debris on the circuit caused by a clash between Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez.

With his lead wiped out, Hamilton was forced to not only build his advantage again but also make a pit stop to change to soft tyres.

Meanwhile, Vettel in second, third placed Ricciardo, and the rest of the field had already used both tyre compounds.

Hamilton immediately jumped on the power on the restart and he soon opened up a 25 second lead.

He eventually pitted for soft tyres on lap 52 but the gap wasn’t enough as he rejoined two seconds behind Vettel.

Aided by fresh rubber, Hamilton pushed hard and reclaimed his lead a with a pass on Vettel less than a lap after his stop.

Once in front, Hamilton cruised to victory with Vettel claiming second and Ricciardo, who had been suffering from power issues, coming home in third.

Alonso finished fourth ahead of Massa and a hard charging Jean-Eric Vergne in sixth, who stormed up the order after a late stop.

Perez recovered to finish seventh while Raikkonen crossed the line in eighth in front of Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen.

Singapore Grand Prix Results

Championship Standings