Sebastian Vettel took a leading victory at the Singapore Grand Prix, holding off a late charge from Jenson Button whose second place ensured the title hunt will stay alive for at least another round.
Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are now all mathematically out of the running after finishing third, fourth and fifth on the streets of Singapore. Button was the only man to take the fight to Vettel but the champion elect's attentiveness never wavered and he was rewarded with his ninth victory of the season.
He led contentedly from the start of the race, extending his advantage at more than a second a lap through the early stages. He then responded to the possible danger of a safety car period by pulling out a similarly imposing lead at the restart before defending from Button's late charge over the final ten laps.
The McLaren was within 1.7s of Vettel at the chequered flag after pushing hard on super soft tyres and trying to take benefit of back markers. However, closing the gap was one thing while really passing Vettel would have been another challenge completely and in the end the Red Bull never looked under serious threat. Webber was 27.5s behind Button in third, with Alonso another 26.1s down the road in fourth.
