Formula One is back in action this weekend as it heads to Malaysia for the latest round of the 2016 season.
Title Fight
The fight has swung in the favour of Nico Rosberg who now leads the championship by eight points from his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Nico Rosberg claimed victory last time out in Singapore, his eighth of the season whilst Hamilton managed to finish third, his sixth podium finish of the season (excluding victories).
Battle of the Ferraris
Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo is currently in third and twenty six points ahead of fourth placed Sebastian Vettel. He therefore is relatively clear at present of the Ferrari driver and is on his own of sorts in the driver standings.
However the gap between Vettel and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen is closer with five points separating the two Ferrari drivers. Singapore was the first time since the British Grand Prix that Raikkonen has managed to finish ahead of Vettel.
Behind the two Ferrari’s in the standings is the other Red Bull driver of Max Verstappen who is nineteen points behind Raikkonen.
Valtteri Bottas vs Sergio Perez
The Singapore Grand Prix saw Force India’s Sergio Perez close the gap to Valtteri Bottas in the standings to three points after Perez managed to finish eighth whilst Bottas was forced to retire.
Nico Hulkenberg vs Felipe Massa
Behind Bottas and Perez are their teammates with the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg leading the Williams of Felipe Massa. The battle has remained static after both drivers failed to score points in Singapore, it means that the gap between the two remains at five points.
Battle of the Spaniards
There has been movement however in the battle between the Spaniards of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz. Alonso had a strong race in Singapore, recording a seventh place finish moving him onto thirty six points for the 2016 season whilst Sainz finished outside the points in fourteenth.
It now means that Alonso is only five points behind Felipe Massa and is six points ahead of Sainz.
The Rest
The only other movement is the Renault of Kevin Magnussen managing to claim a tenth place finish moving him to ten points behind the McLaren of Jenson Button.
The Motorsport Critic 