SINGAPORE, Sept 20 — Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won an incident-packed Singapore Formula One Grand Prix today after world champion Lewis Hamilton retired early for the first time this season and a spectator set heart rates fluttering when he strolled on to the track.

Hamilton was running fourth approaching the halfway point of the 61-lap race when he started losing engine power, rapidly dropping back through the field before he was told to return to the garage and call it a night.

Starting from pole position, Vettel had no problems, leading all the way to take the chequered flag for the fourth time at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit, despite twice losing the big advantage he had built up when the safety car was deployed.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second for Red Bull, his best result of the year, while Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line third.

Nico Rosberg finished fourth for Mercedes to cut Hamilton’s championship lead to 41 points with six races remaining. Vettel trails Hamilton by 49.

Vettel’s win was the German’s third this season and the 42nd of his career, enabling the quadruple world champion to overtake the late Ayrton Senna into outright third place for the most lifetime wins, trailing only Michael Schumacher (91) and Alain Prost (51).

A proven master on the slow and twisty Singapore track, Vettel gave his rivals no chance when he stamped his foot on the accelerator and made a flying getaway from the front of the grid.

The 28-year-old opened up a three-second lead over Ricciardo after the opening lap and was never seriously challenged even when the safety car was introduced.

Its first appearance came on the 13th lap when Felipe Massa exited the pits and was hit from the side by Nico Hulkenberg who speared into a wall, wrecking his Force India car and ending his race.

The second came when a spectator briefly walked on to the circuit before climbing back through a hole in the fence.

The results:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 2:01:22.118 2. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) RedBull-Renault +00:01.478 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:17.154 4. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 00:24.720 5. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes 00:34.204 6. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) RedBull-Renault 00:35.508 7. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India-Mercedes 00:50.836 8. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso-Renault 00:51.450 9. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso-Renault 00:52.860 10. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber-Ferrari 01:30.045 11. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber-Ferrari 01:37.507 12. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus-Mercedes 01:37.718 13. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus-Mercedes 2 laps 14. Alexander Rossi (US) Marussia-Ferrari 2 laps 15. Will Stevens (Britain) Marussia-Ferrari 2 laps r. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 8 laps r. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 27 laps r. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 28 laps r. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 30 laps r. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India-Mercedes 48 laps (rank: r = retired) Fastest lap: Daniel Ricciardo,1:50.041, lap 52.

— Reuters