Hamilton: Singapore "the longest race of my career"

Lewis Hamilton has described the Singapore Grand Prix as the "longest race of my career". The Briton extended his lead in the championship to 40 points after taking victory around the Marina Bay Circuit, finishing almost nine seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.

Hamilton produced a storming qualifying lap on Saturday and converted his strong pace to victory. With conditions always difficult during the gruelling Singapore race, Hamilton said that it was one of the toughest races he has ever competed in.

"I'm spent. That was a tough race,” he said. “I had such great support here and we had a great start. The team have just never given up faith and belief in me and in Valtteri [Bottas] and in our ability. This is a real blessing, it was a long race. That felt like the longest race of my life so I am glad it is over.”

Hamilton came close to losing his lead at one point when he approached a battle between cars he was attempting to lap. Verstappen closed right up behind Hamilton but failed to get past. However, Hamilton admitted that the incident made him very nervous.

“I think I was a little bit unlucky with the traffic,” Hamilton reflected. “These guys were moving around, it was quite difficult to follow. I think Max probably was a little bit lucky at what point on the track and the guys won’t let me by so jeez, it was close. My heart was definitely in my mouth for a minute but once I got clear of those I was able to put the pedal down and pull away.”