Webber fined for lift after Vettel wins in Singapore

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber were both punished by stewards after the Spaniard gave the stranded Australian a ride back to the pit lane on the side of his car at the close of Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.

Both drivers received reprimands, though that has more serious consequences for Webber as it was his third reprimand of the season. Webber will receive a 10-place penalty on the grid at the next grand prix in South Korea.

Webber's car pulled off the track in flames after an engine failure on the final lap. Rather than having a slow post-race walk back to the pits, he dashed out onto the track, hailed Alonso's Ferrari like it was a taxi and then clambered onto the sidepod for a quicker ride back.

Alonso had already finished the race in second, behind Sebastian Vettel. Three cars on their slowdown laps had to take evasive action to avoid Webber and the Ferrari, and the problem was compounded by Alonso driving more slowly than permitted as he made allowances for his passenger.

Vettel was in a class of his own under the Marina Bay lights, winning by a massive 32.6 seconds over Alonso and boosting his championship lead on the Ferrari driver from 53 points to 60 with six races remaining.

"We are in a very good position. To be honest I am not looking at the championship too much," Vettel said. "I am just enjoying it at the moment. Days like today and yesterday are what it is all about."

Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen was third, ahead of the Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively. Starting in pole, Vettel lost the lead at the first corner to Rosberg but took it back as the Mercedes driver ran wide at turn two.

Even a safety car period just before half distance, which eroded his 12-second lead, could not prevent another Vettel victory. "The start was quite hairy, Nico had a good start, but fortunately he went a little too deep and I was able to get him back," Vettel said. "With the safety car, it was difficult but we came back ... we had very, very good pace."

Red Bull teammate Mark Webber had sharply different fortunes in the race. As the Australian was threatening Raikkonen in the closing stages, he experienced an engine failure that saw him pull off the track with his car in flames.

Alonso was in a generous mood after an impressive showing. The Spaniard got a superb start, going around the outside of several drivers to vault from seventh to third after two corners, and capitalised on the emergence of the safety car by pitting for his final stop, taking on a set of the harder tires which he drove for the last 36 of 61 laps. "We knew we didn't have the pace today, we had to invent something," Alonso said. "I had a good start and a different strategy ... it tastes like a victory to us."

Raikkonen's participation in the race had been in doubt due to a back injury that affected him badly in Saturday's qualifying, but the Finn sliced his way through the field in the latter half of the race to move up from 10th to a podium finish. "Luckily not too much (pain during the race) but now, afterwards, it's not 100 percent but I have time to rest and get it right," Raikkonen said. "Third place - we could not have expected any more today."

Ferrari's Felipe Massa was sixth, ahead of the McLaren pair Jenson Button and Sergio Perez in seventh and eighth respectively, with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Force India's Adrian Sutil completing the top ten. Vettel's victory was his third in a row in Singapore, his seventh of the season, and 33rd of his career, moving him out of a tie with Alonso and into outright fourth place on the all-time list behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

Vettel also won from pole in the previous F1 race in Italy and took the lead on the opening lap of the Belgian GP, meaning he has now led effectively from start to finish in three successive races. With such dominance over his dispirited rivals, only an extraordinary turnaround can prevent Vettel winning a fourth-straight championship, joining Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as the only men to achieve that feat.

Ferrari had said prior to the race that the result in Singapore would determine whether to continue development of the car or to turn all resources to the radically redesigned 2014 vehicle. Alonso's second placing will likely be enough to keep Ferrari's mind on this year, but the Spaniard was realistic about his fading title hopes. "The gap is still increasing every weekend and now it's 60 points," Alonso said. "We need to be honest with ourselves. We need a lot of luck every weekend if we are one second (per lap) off their pace."