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After winning his 23rd Grand Prix victory Sebastian Vettel was in a much chirpier mood than he was post-qualifying. In the post-race press conference he shared a bit about why the Singapore Grand Prix is considered to be so tough: “Obviously it’s a long race, a lot of laps – we did the full two hours again – but it’s fun in a way, you are excited, a bit nervous before the race starts, knowing there is a little bit of a marathon coming, but I think that’s what makes this race so special: not just racing at night, it’s also the circuit with a lot of corners, a lot of bumps, making it extremely difficult.

“It’s a great challenge for us. Very happy with the result, obviously. I think the team deserves a big thank you. In fact working in these conditions is very, very hot and in the garage it is another 10, 15 degrees hotter than outside. So not the nicest office to work it but obviously it’s nice to give a little bit of champagne back and bring a trophy home – so I’m very happy.”

After the break you can read the full transcript of what all three men standing on the podium had to say, with thanks to the FIA.

[Pic: Ferrari]

Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) has picked up his bottom lip following his qualifying disappointment and made good on Lewis Hamilton’s (McLaren) misfortune to win the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix. It’s Vettel’s second win of the year and his second victory under the lights in Singapore.

Hamilton looked in control of the race for the first 22 laps and then on lap 23 his gearbox failed forcing him to retire. Vettel inherited the lead and only surrendered it during routine pit stops.

Jenson Button provided some smiles for McLaren by finishing second, while Fernando Alonso once again managed to minimise the damage from those chasing down his title lead, despite his Ferrari not having the raw pace to challenge for the win.

This is Singapore so it had to be influenced by the Safety Car, and so it came to be when Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) crashed out on lap 33. Shortly after the restart Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) locked his brakes heavily and drove into the back of an innocent Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), who was sitting in the points in P10.

It’s unclear if it was the mistake of an old man or some sort of mechanical failure. To Vergne’s credit he immediately accepted Schumacher’s apology with good grace. Perhaps having seven world titles does give Michael a few credits in the bank.

After the second restart things remained mostly in control, save for a squabble involving the two Saubers and Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) with about 10 laps to go. The result was a broken front wing for Kamui Kobayashi and a puncture for Hulkenberg. Mark Webber (Red Bull) narrowly escaped the action by passing Kobayishi moments earlier.

It was disappointing day for Webber who was running strongly in fifth but a gamble to change tyres during the second Safety Car period didn’t pay off and the best he could muster was the one point offered for tenth place.

Just ahead of Webber was Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) who finished in P9. Daniel has been relatively strong in qualifying, but hasn’t always managed to put it together on Sunday. This is just his second points finish for the year, after his debut race with Toro Rosso in Melbourne.

The heat and humidity of Singapore makes this a tough race for the drivers, reinforced by the fact the drivers could only cover 59 of the planned 61 laps. The race ended after it reached the two hour time limit.

We have a break of two weeks now before back to back races in Japan and Korea. Vettel’s win has moved him into second place in the drivers’ championship and we’re shaping for another fantastic fight for the title with six races remaining.

UPDATE: We understand Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button are facing the stewards after the two narrowly avoided contact during the first Safety Car period. If any late drama unfolds we’ll let you know.

UPDATE #2: The stewards left Vettel and Button alone, but nabbed Mark Webber for gaining advantage by going off the track to overtake Kamui Kobayashi. He was given a 20 second time penalty, which means he drops to P11.