Sebastian Vettel one point away from keeping crown

RED BULL'S Sebastian Vettel is one point away from the Formula One world title after winning a dramatic Grand Prix in Singapore. But for Jenson Button's second place, Vettel would already be celebrating retaining his crown. As it is, the German is 124 points clear of Button in the championship standings with 125 points remaining in the five races to come.

"It was a perfect day in the office," said Vettel afterwards. "I had a nice, smooth race from the front. The car was amazing and the car was good. I really like this track."

It was Vettel's ninth victory in 14 races. Except for the German Grand Prix when he finished fourth, he has dominated the season in a manner not seen since Michael Schumacher won the 2004 championship by 63 points.

Despite Vettel leading from the start in Singapore there was plenty of excitement further down the field with Michael Schumacher's Mercedes going airborne after running into the back of Sauber's Sergio Perez on lap 30. The former world champion emerged unscathed from the crash and when the safety car departed Webber, Alonso and Button battled it out for the minor places as Vettel eased to a comfortable victory in 1hr 59min 06.757sec.

Button took second and Webber passed Alonso to take third with the Spaniard finishing fourth. "Pretty happy to be second," reflected Button. "I couldn't really find the grip with the car. I needed to find a pace that was comfortable in the car and not damaging the tyres too much. The pace was pretty good but there was no catching Seb."

Button's fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton had a race to forget, dropping from fourth to eighth at the start as he failed to find speed. Later on Hamilton collided with Felipe Massa, a clash that necessitated a pit stop to replace a new wing. Hit with a drive-through penalty as a result, Hamilton dropped to 15th although he eventually battled back to finish fifth.

But Hamilton's driving did little to endear him to Massa, who blasted the Briton afterwards, saying: "He destroyed my race. Yesterday [Saturday] he tried to be Superman in qualifying and today he tried to do the same. He could have caused a big accident. My thoughts are that, again, he cannot use his mind, even in qualifying."

As for Vettel, he is one point away from becoming the youngest driver in F1 history to secure back-to-back titles and he should achieve the feat in Japan on October 9. Asked if he believed the championship was a foregone conclusion, Vettel replied: "Obviously it should not be a problem but it's over when it's over and not before. Statistics are on our side, but this story has to wait to be closed." ·