SINGAPORE: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel ended his year-long drought without a win at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday (Sep 22), mastering a hazy circuit to claim a record fifth triumph in the city.

The German’s victory was also his third in a row this season for Ferrari.

The four-time world champion, whose last victory was in Belgium in August 2018, took the chequered flag 2.641 seconds ahead of Monegasque team mate Charles Leclerc, who had started on pole position for the third race in a row.

“It was a very late call on the pit stop and I just gave it everything on the out lap. I was surprised to come out ahead and it was difficult to manage the tyres but we controlled it to the end,” Vettel told reporters.

Red Bull’s Dutch 21-year-old Max Verstappen took third place in a floodlit night race that saw the safety car deployed three times. 

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished fourth but extended his advantage over fellow Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas to 65 points, with six races remaining, after the Finn finished in fifth.

The race got off to a clean start with the top six retaining their grid positions despite Vettel putting immense pressure on second-placed Hamilton in the opening lap.

While a few drivers were shifting position further down the field, the frontrunners were maintaining a one-second gap between each other as Leclerc set a slow pace to make his soft tyres last as long as possible.

Ferrari and Red Bull were the first of the big teams to bring their cars in for pit stops as Vettel and Verstappen were fitted with the more durable hard tyres on lap 20, with Leclerc following suit on the next lap.

Leclerc, however, was dismayed to leave the pits behind Vettel.

Hamilton stayed out on track in the lead to set about forging a big enough gap to retain the lead when it was his turn to come in.

But Vettel, Leclerc and Verstappen were lapping much quicker than Hamilton and when the Briton finally stopped seven laps after his rivals, he emerged in a distant fourth place.

Hamilton’s only hope of victory was to capitalise on his rivals’ degraded tyres late in the race.

But three safety car periods – when both George Russell and Sergio Perez stopped on the track, and when Daniil Kvyat collided with Kimi Raikkonen – allowed the front three plenty of time to cool their rubber.

Ferrari will be delighted to have recorded a one-two finish at a circuit they were not expected to muster a podium finish.

But Leclerc was unhappy with the pit strategy that dashed his hopes of a hat-trick after wins in Belgium and Italy.

“I won’t do anything stupid, I want us to finish one-two,” Leclerc told Ferrari over the radio when he was behind the second safety car. “I just don’t think it’s fair.”

Haze from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia has shrouded Singapore over the past week, and on Sunday air quality dipped to unhealthy levels ahead of the race.

SINGAPORE: After a deterioration in air quality on Sunday (Sep 22) following clearer skies in recent days, the haze situation may improve this week with rain forecast over the next few days.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a media advisory on Sunday evening that slightly hazy conditions can be expected in Singapore on Monday, with thundery showers forecast in the afternoon.

A total of 246 hotspots were detected in Sumatra on Sunday, with an additional 474 hotspots detected in Kalimantan. A forecast shift in winds on Monday are expected to bring showers over the region. 

“For the next few days, an increase in rain showers can be expected over the region, including Sumatra and Kalimantan, and the prevailing winds are forecast to blow from the northeast or southeast,” said NEA. 

“The showers may help to improve the hotspot and haze situation in Sumatra and Kalimantan, although hotspot activities in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan can be expected to persist.”

NEA said it is monitoring the situation closely, and will provide further updates when necessary.

READ: Understand the haze – What do Singapore’s air quality readings mean?

READ: Cutting through the haze: When do you need an N95 mask?

For the next 24 hours, the 1-hr PM2.5 concentration readings in Singapore are expected to be in Band II (Elevated), and may return to Band I (Normal) tomorrow. 

PM2.5 is a measure of tiny particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter in the air. When the PM2.5 reading is in the elevated range, haze particles can affect the heart and lungs, especially in people who have chronic heart or lung conditions.

According to NEA, one-hour PM2.5 readings are a “good indicator of current air quality”, and can be used for those deciding whether to go for immediate outdoor activities, such as a jog.

The 24-hr PSI is forecast to be between the high end of Moderate range and the low end of Unhealthy range, and may enter the mid-section of the Unhealthy range if denser haze from the surrounding region is blown in.

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), PSI readings of 50 and below denote “good” air quality, “moderate” for 51-100 and “unhealthy” for 101-200.

The one-hour PM2.5 reading at 7pm ranged between 63-69 µg/m3, which is in the Elevated band. The reading was highest in the west and south, registering at 69 µg/m3.

As of 7pm on Sunday, the PSI readings were:

• 110 in the north
• 117 in the east
• 122 in the south
• 109 in the west
• 110 in the central region

SINGAPORE: “I’m the worst Bond, according to the internet,” the late, great Sir Roger Moore once said. “Generally hated! I was too funny, too light. Didn’t take it seriously enough.”

It’s true that Moore’s sense of humour and playful approach to portraying agent 007 struck an off note with some viewers.

But to me, they’re high among the attributes that make him the best James Bond ever.

MOVE OVER SEAN CONNERY

Surveys attempting to officially rank the greatest cinematic Bonds unfailingly place Sean Connery as the fans’ favourite, the Scottish actor who played Bond in six of the earliest films sometimes reaping more than half the votes.

The current Bond, Daniel Craig, is generally moviegoers’ second most popular choice, and Pierce Brosnan often takes third place on the podium.

Without question, Connery, Craig and Brosnan are very good. In my opinion, though, they’re each bested by Moore — not least because, while the others took Bond all too seriously, Moore recognised and revelled in the absurdity of the role.

“To me, the Bond situations are so ridiculous, so outrageous. I mean, this man is supposed to be a spy and yet, everybody knows he’s a spy,” Moore once pointed out.

“Every bartender in the world offers him martinis that are shaken, not stirred. What kind of serious spy is recognised everywhere he goes? It’s outrageous. So you have to treat the humour outrageously as well.”

HE’S SO ‘UN-ACTORISH’

Despite having been classically trained in theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Moore self-deprecatingly described his acting style as “left eyebrow raised, right eyebrow raised”.

That cocked-brow expression was a signature, appearing countless times throughout Moore’s seven Bond movies, produced between 1973 and 1985. It serves as the perfect encapsulation of Moore’s wry take on 007.

His strength was acknowledging with a sly wink the silliness of the character — who, when it comes down to it, is basically a comic-book superhero, merely clad in a tuxedo rather than a cape and lycra tights.

Nevertheless, while conceding how literally unbelievable 007 is, Moore’s portrayal of Bond seemed entirely natural. Britt Ekland, his co-star in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun, said, “He’s so ‘un-actorish’. What you see on the screen is the Roger Moore you see if you have lunch with him. He doesn’t put on that character.”

Indeed, Moore was every bit the rakish Bond-style bon vivant, a dapper dresser, fond of fine wines and cigars, and exceedingly popular with the ladies.

When Moore first played Bond in 1973’s Live and Let Die, he was a seasoned 45-year-old playboy and already on the third of his four marriages — the perfect fit for the part of the dissolute spy.

Many who’ve read the literary source material say Moore’s look, personality and bearing are closer than any of the other actors’ to the James Bond described by the character’s creator, author Ian Fleming.

In fact, when rough-edged Edinburgh bodybuilder Connery was cast in the earliest Bond films, Fleming griped:

I thought we were getting Commander Bond, not an overgrown stuntman. 

There’s a brooding sense of menace to James Bond as channelled by Connery and Craig (the latter’s burly musculature fairly bursting the seams of his Tom Ford suits).

They’re highly believable as ruthless assassins on Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but the veneer of seductive sophistication seems just that — purely superficial, a mask.

Moore, meanwhile, takes to the clothes, the cars, the cocktails and the comely companions like a duck to water. Unlike some of the other Bond actors, he seems utterly at home in the Savile Row tailoring, luxury locales and sleek sports cars that are 007’s natural habitat.

The same could be said of Pierce Brosnan, an excellent Bond, credible both as a sophisticate and a killer. But the ludicrous material he was given to work with let him down terribly. Face-swapping villains and invisible cars? Honestly!

As Quentin Tarantino recently remarked, “I didn’t care for the movies that they put [Brosnan] in, which I always thought was a bit of a tragedy, because I thought he was a very legitimate Bond.”

Single-shot Bond George Lazenby? Too Australian, and if there’s one quality integral to James Bond, it’s Britishness. 

As for Timothy Dalton … Bland, James Bland, double-oh-spare-us.

THE NEXT BOND

Coming to screens in April 2020, the next Bond movie, No Time To Die, will be Daniel Craig’s last. Rumours abound over who will assume the mantle. Henry Cavill has been suggested, but he’s already so closely associated with that other hero frequently called upon to save the world, Superman.

Tom Hardy is Venom and Bane — could he be Bond, too?

Idris Elba is the bookmakers’ favourite, however at 47, he’s a little long in the tooth and would make his debut at an even older age than Moore did.

My preferred pick is Richard Madden, star of The Bodyguard and Game of Thrones’ tragic hero Robb Stark. He’s 33, meaning he’d have the potential to play Bond for a four- or five-movie run.

He looks great in a tux, boasts a rich Scottish burr, has ample experience fighting and fornicating on film, and apparently even drinks vodka martinis in his free time — sharing one of Bond’s most famous predilections.

Icing on the cake: Madden’s in possession of a superb set of eyebrows and has frequently demonstrated his skill at cocking one of them independently, à la Moore. He’s the full package.

STILL, NO ONE DID IT BETTER THAN MOORE

I doubt Madden would outdo Sir Roger though. Even the man’s name was perfect for the Bond franchise — brimming as the series is with double-entendre monickers such as Plenty O’Toole, Pussy Galore, Mary Goodnight and Honey Ryder.

Roger Moore by name and by nature, was the series’ most prolific Casanova, enjoying 17 romantic assignations over the course of his seven films. Bond’s skills as a seducer are among the attributes his overwhelmingly male fanbase most envy and admire him for.

As The Guardian’s film critic wrote following the actor’s death in 2017:

The Connery Bond was feared and admired, and the same went for the Brosnan Bond or the Craig Bond. But the Roger Moore Bond was loved.

Much loved, one might even say (with a cocked eyebrow).

The knowledge that Moore was something of a saint in real life — tirelessly campaigning for UNICEF causes and receiving his knighthood for services to charity — only deepens our respect for this brilliant Bond and outstanding human being.

Forgive the cliché, but to paraphrase Carly Simon’s theme song for 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me – nobody did it better.

Christian Barker is a journalist and editor with two decades’ experience writing about men’s style and luxury for publications including The Rake, Forbes Asia, Robb Report, GQ and Esquire. ​​​​​​​