Formula 1 engine supplier Honda has criticised McLaren's static way of operating in their first comments since it was confirmed the two parties would split at the end of the year in Singapore.

The deal, which sees Renault tie-up with the British team in a wide-ranging partnership while the Japanese manufacturer switches to Red Bull's junior team Toro Rosso, brings to an end a difficult three years for the once-dominant collaboration with competitiveness and reliability failing to improve since Honda rejoined in 2015.

Now free to be more vocal about why the much-anticipated reunion didn't work, Honda's Motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto insists some blame does lie with McLaren who were uncompromising in the boundaries they set for the partnership to work in.

"Working with McLaren, I've realised that they are a very big company which is very systematic," he said. "It's obviously very strong because of that but at the same time, they can find it hard to adapt to change.

"Compare that to Toro Rosso, it is a company that is growing. It is very important for us to work in partnership together, heading towards the same goal," he claimed.

"Take this for an example: If we compare both teams with different cuisines, let's say McLaren is a very sophisticated French cuisine, that's the way it is. Then Toro Rosso is more like a countryside, homemade delicious stew where you can add new ingredients. We're excited to do that."

Yamamoto would accept, however, Honda's inability to meet the required standard set by the Woking outfit was also significant and ultimately led to what many have dubbed the divorce.

"Honda would have preferred to stay in partnership with McLaren but we were not able to reach the performance and reliability targets set by the team," he said. "This created tension between us and unfortunately separation was the result. In the world of Formula 1 it's important to get the results, it's part of the deal.

"Our motto as McLaren-Honda is 'One Team' - working together to get performance. However, we didn't perform as well as we hoped in the pre-season tests, so from the beginning of the season onwards we were unable to deliver as much power as we wanted, and McLaren expected."

There's already talk that the supply deal with Toro Rosso could expand to both Red Bull-funded teams for 2019 and, looking forward, Chief Officer of Brand and Communications Katsuhide Moriyami insists the F1 dream is still alive.

"It is true that we have gone through a tough situation now and nobody was satisfied with the current results, especially the board," he said in Singapore. "We have gone through many discussions but quitting F1 was never an option for us.

"It is our goal to overcome this tough challenge and get back to fighting the frontrunners of the sport, and Honda’s spirit is to come back and next year our goal is to fight for the top three at the top of the grid."

Max Verstappen believes there Sebastian Vettel has no excuses for squeezing him into the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen as the three drivers made contact at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix.

As the lights went out, the polesitter and the Dutchman had similar starts, while Kimi Raikkonen jumped from fourth and was soon alongside the front row starters heading towards the first corner.

Trying to defend from the Red Bull, Vettel moved across moved across meaning Verstappen had nowhere to go with the resulting collision compounded by a second hit between Raikkonen and the soon-to-be 20-year-old at Turn 1 itself. The retirement marked Verstappen's seventh in 2017 and third as a result of a start crash. 

“I think mainly Sebastian [is to be blamed]," he said. "He started squeezing me, maybe he didn’t see Kimi on the left but that’s not an excuse. If you are fighting for the world championship, you shouldn’t take those risks and really like squeeze someone that much."

“I tried to back out of it because I could see it coming but the rear tyres are wider than the front so I couldn’t back out of it." 

As for the secondary collision, Max acknowledged it wasn't Raikkonen's fault, adding: "Into the first corner, those things can happen because Kimi had only two tyres left.”

The stewards will investigate the crash to determine if any penalty should be handed out and Verstappen believes the severity of the result from Vettel's action does warrant action. 

“I don’t think it was a racing incident. At the end of the day, they take a total of three cars and I was in the middle without doing anything wrong,” he said. “I was just trying to have a clean start but we’ll see what happens. At the end of the day, not only I retired, but all three of us have a bit of pain.”

Sergio Perez admits a tinge of disappointment at not being able to fight for a podium at the Singapore Grand Prix, as the Mexican maintained his 100 percent scoring record at the event.

The Force India driver made an electric start on the full wet tyres jumping up from 12th on the grid to fourth amid the incidents up front, the crash for Daniil Kvyat, however, would prove costly as it came just when the intermediate tyres became clearly the best compound to use almost everyone to change.

Nevertheless, Perez, who was confirmed with the Silverstone-based outfit for another year before the race, would achieve his best result around Marina Bay with his seventh top 10 in seven appearances.

"I’m really pleased to come away from such a challenging evening with fifth place," he said. "So many things happened during the race, especially on Lap 1 when it was so difficult to see anything because of the spray.

"At the same time, I’m a little disappointed that we missed out on a podium because I think the second Safety Car period didn’t help our strategy. We started the race on the full wet tyre, but we had to switch early to the intermediate tyres under the Safety Car and I lost valuable track position.

"Even so, it’s still a great day and a good recovery after a difficult qualifying session yesterday. This result helps our fourth position in the championship and continues my record of always scoring points in Singapore."

Teammate Esteban Ocon also continued his excellent points-scoring run in 10th, making it 13 top 10's in 14 this season as the Frenchman edges nearer to Max Chilton's record of 25 consecutive finishes for a rookie at the start of his career.

The birthday boy, who turned 21 on Sunday, wasn't so thrilled with his performance, however. 

“I am not happy to come away with 10th place but at least we’re leaving behind a very difficult weekend – it’s not the best way to celebrate my birthday," he said.

“I made a very good start, but I struggled on both the wet tyres and the intermediates," Ocon added, explaining his problem. "This wasn’t the case in Monza, where I was much more comfortable in the rain, but something wasn’t working and I don’t know why.

“This dragged me behind some slower cars. After the track had dried, I had good pace but I just couldn’t overtake the cars I was chasing. It’s just very difficult to find an overtaking opportunity here.”

Lewis Hamilton increased his championship lead to 28 points after claiming a potentially decisive victory at the Singapore Grand Prix as main rival Sebastian Vettel failed to finish for the first time this season.

The Briton would avoid the Turn 1 drama, which saw Vettel one of three drivers eliminated along with teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen, and have enough pace to beat the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo to earn a lights-to-flag victory.

Valtteri Bottas couldn't match his teammate but ensured there was two Mercedes on the podium in third, as the Silver Arrows also took a big step towards retaining the Constructors' crown.

Pre-race rain promised an eventful two hours of action under the lights and also marked the first ever wet night race in F1 and Hamilton, who was looking for damage limitation after only qualifying fifth, saw himself leading from the first lap after making an amazing start to overtake Ricciardo to claim second.

The major first corner incident was caused by the two Ferraris squeezing Verstappen in a pincer movement with Vettel coming across to defend and Raikkonen on the inside after his own blistering start, saw the Finn lose control and take out the Dutchman again and Fernando Alonso, who was well up after a strong start.

Vettel would still lead but then on the approach to Turn 5 would spin into the wall on the inside cause irreparable damage and gifting Hamilton the lead.

Ricciardo made a poorer start but would also avoid the trouble ahead to move up to second and though many anticipated him to attack the Mercedes in front, he would have to nurse his Red Bull home after being hit with gearbox trouble during the race.

Valtteri Bottas also slipped down initially but one less pitstop would move him back up to third as the midfield cars that did get ahead, including Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, started on the full wets in the unknown conditions.

Carlos Sainz started on the intermediates and was able to take full advantage of those ahead switching to the lighter rain tyre under a Safety Car, caused by his teammate Daniil Kvyat crashing at Turn 7, to score his best ever finish taking his Toro Rosso to fourth place.

The Spaniard battling his 2018 teammate Hulkenberg for that position before the German suffered hydraulic problems forcing him to pit before eventually retiring late in the race.

As mentioned, Perez was up to fourth at the start having started 12th and would only fall behind Sainz to claim fifth and continue his remarkable record of scoring every time he has raced in Singapore.

Jolyon Palmer produced a strong move on Valtteri Bottas early on but a decision to pit a lap later under the second Safety Car hurt the Briton, although he would recover to sixth, his best F1 result and first points of the season.

Another personal best finish was set by Stoffel Vandoorne in seventh for McLaren ahead of a recovering Lance Stroll in eighth, as the young Canadian again showed excellent pace in the wet.

Romain Grosjean was ninth as Esteban Ocon completed the top 10 and continued his run of scoring of all but one of the races so far. Only 12 cars would finish with Felipe Massa having a race to forget in 11th and beating Pascal Wehrlein in the Sauber.

The other retirees not mentioned include Kevin Magnussen, who suffered a late MGU-K problem in his Haas and Marcus Ericsson, who would hit the wall crossing the Anderson Bridge causing a third Safety Car.

Mercedes Motorsport boss Toto Wolff admits he felt sympathy for Ferrari after both their cars were eliminated in a crash at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Teammates colliding became a little too common for the Austrian during the Lewis Hamilton/ Nico Rosberg rivalry of the past three years, the most reminiscent example coming in Spain last year when both slid out on Lap 1. 

The impact, however, was massive as the Brackley team, who struggled to match the Scuderia and Red Bull all weekend on arguably their weakest track, suddenly took a major step towards defending both their championships.

"In the morning we were talking about damage limitation, and we go our away from Singapore with a P1 and P3. So, from our perspective it’s a great result," Wolff commented. "But once that’s happened you can kind of feel for Ferrari. I’ve been in the situation of losing both cars, and you can relate how awful that thing could be.

"But then, I guess we’re not here to make prisoners. So from the moment on it was clear we were in the lead with Lewis, it was about delivering the best result possible for the race."

Now with Mercedes holding a 102-point advantage in the Constructors' standings and Lewis Hamilton having the largest lead seen in the Drivers' Championship this season, Toto revealed the team's mindset going forward after an encounter with a former rival turned colleague.

"I checked in with James [Allison] 10 minutes' ago. He said: '28 points', I said 'yeah, but we mustn't drop the ball'," he claimed. "Clearly you wouldn't feel comfortable in Ferrari's shoes having a 28-point deficit. 

"So whatever the perspective is, from my opinion, and this is how we've done it in the last years, we just need to do continue and get on with the job. There is lots of time for cheering when we've actually done it."

Something else Wolff remains hesitant to do is fully back Hamilton in his bid for a fourth world title and third in four seasons by introducing team orders.

"I think that it’s pretty obvious that his chance of winning the drivers’ championship is higher than Valtteri’s," he commented. "So like we’ve done in the past we will look at the preceding race and assess it, then the decision becomes obvious.

"I wouldn’t want to give a straight commitment and say he’s our number one because I don’t want to screw up the mind of our second driver because if he’s up in the front, and he’s leading the race… That’s why I don’t want to call it."

Sebastian Vettel remains sure he can challenge Lewis Hamilton for a fifth Formula 1 title despite seeing the gap grow to 28 points after failing to finish at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The German appeared at fault for triggering an incident between himself, Max Verstappen and teammate Kimi Raikkonen at the start, as the three cars pinched together, with Sebastian moving across, on the run to the first corner.

A spin into the wall on the run to Turn 5 would then guarantee his first retirement of 2017 but, commenting on the incident on the return to the paddock, the man who started from pole defended his actions insisting he was unaware of the presence of two cars on his inside. 

"I don't know, I had an average start," said Vettel. "I went to the left, tried to fend off Max then the next thing there was a bump on the side, saw Kimi's car, not sure what happened.

"Then I spun after Turn 3 but I think there was damage on the car already and it didn't matter, [the car was] broken, massively bent, I lost water pressure and had to stop anyway."

Heading into the weekend, it was thought a strong result was imperative for Vettel and his championship aspirations with Ferrari likely to have the advantage on Mercedes and Red Bull competitive too. Instead, the margin between the two leaders is now the largest it has been all year, with Hamilton now over a race win clear of the 30-year-old. 

However, talking as the race continued, Vettel is sure there is still time for luck to swing in his favour. 

"It's a long race, we are on the wrong side of the track so that doesn't help, but we've got races to go, nothing we can do now, for sure it's bitter, but it's done," he said.

“It is what it is and we move on. It doesn’t change much. Obviously, we are not in the race, that’s a pity, we can’t show the pace that we have but I am sure there will be more opportunities.”

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Carlos Sainz declared his drive to fourth at the Singapore Grand Prix as his best to date in Formula 1, as he achieved his highest finish to date amid the chaos on Sunday at Marina Bay.

The Spaniard benefitted by being one of the drivers brave enough to choose intermediates after a downpour just before the start led to the first wet race in the 10-year history of the night race in the city-state.

The Toro Rosso driver would make some progress as conditions improved and jumped ahead to be the lead midfield runner once those on full wets pitted for the same green-striped tyres. Once in fourth, an issue took away his main challenger in Nico Hulkenberg and it became about holding off Sergio Perez to the chequered flag, which he would do.

"The best one, no doubt," he said of his race on Sunday. "Apart from the start and with all the complications this race had, I had very good pace on the wet, very good pace on the used inter against the new inter and then managing to fend off guys.

"So I would say it's one of the best stints I've done in F1."

The result also came on a big weekend for the 22-year-old after it was confirmed he will be loaned to Renault for 2018, with Red Bull keen to keep him on their books for a potential seat at the senior team in 2019.

Talk continues that Sainz may make that switch as soon as the next Grand Prix in Malaysia, but for now, he enjoyed his great result, scoring the Italian team's best result since Austin 2015.

"I'm going to look back on this one and try to create a bit of momentum," he claimed. "There's races when you're in the midfield where you do very well and you just extract a P9, a P8 out of it.

"Today, you do things very very well and you extract a P4, so that's why I was celebrating."

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has refused to elaborate on speculation Aston Martin could be set to increase their partnership with the team, potentially becoming a new title sponsor.

Amid the flurry of engine announcements on Friday and following reports Renault will not renew their engine deal with the team post-2018, Horner dropped a hint Red Bull has something in the works.

"There will be another announcement coming soon that isn't Porsche or Honda," he told Sky Sports referring to engine suppliers that have been linked to the team in recent days. "We have a relationship with a car firm."

That car firm is Aston Martin, with who Red Bull has worked with both on and off the track, however, asked if that was the company he was referring to, the Briton refused to be drawn.

"You can speculate all you like but I'm not going to confirm anything," team boss Christian Horner told Motorsport.com. "We've got a great relationship with Aston, obviously working on and developing the Valkyrie hypercar for them.

"They're doing a great job, the product is great, and they've got a lot of great stuff in the pipeline. There will be news to follow in weeks to come."

The famous British luxury car brand has been linked to greater involvement in F1 with CEO Andy Palmer confirming long-term considerations are underway, although wouldn't mention anything regarding next year.

"It's fair to say that one of the reasons I'm here today is to discuss what next season looks like and within that context, do we or don't we provide an independent engine in 2021? And then join the dots," he said in Singapore.

"As a company, we kind of sit in the same world as F1, often with the same engineers. So the technical capability exists, it's just a matter of money," he added.

"Up to a point it's OK, but if we are going to continue to have heat recovery systems, no cap on the spend, and as many dynamometer hours as you like, then we'll check out.

"But if there is a way of making it work, I think the sport would be a lot richer."

Daniel Ricciardo was left to rue a gearbox problem which prevented him from putting up a stronger fight to Lewis Hamilton, as the Red Bull driver finished second in Singapore for the third straight year.

Throughout the weekend, the fight at the front had been between the Milton Keynes outfit and Ferrari, but a lightning start from the Mercedes and a crash involving both Scuderia cars and the Australian's teammate Max Verstappen resulted in a much different battle for the win than many were expecting.

Asked for his view on the incident between the three drivers that started around him, Ricciardo didn't want to apportion blame but conceded he was quite fortunate with how it played out.

"I just kind of watched the chaos unfold in front of me," he said. "It just looked like three were trying to go into one. I don't know whose fault it was, but it was just too close.

"It was probably a good thing that I got a bad start. Otherwise, I would probably have got caught up in it!"

Commenting on his race as a whole, he added: "The rain made it all pretty hectic today. Everyone was in the same boat though and we hadn’t driven in the wet here before.

"In the first few laps, I felt we were okay in the wet but then I felt we were a bit harsh on the tyres. Even when we pitted and had fresher tyres, we couldn’t really make an impact on Lewis."

After the race, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner revealed Ricciardo was dealing with a gearbox issue which threatened his participation at various stages.

"The team was asking me to manage the gears through the race," the 28-year-old explained. "We had a leak and were losing oil pressure in the gearbox from early on."

To make the finish then was a relief for Ricciardo but with a third and now three second's in the last four years, he admitted it's frustrating he's yet to stand on the top step.

"I can't win the bloody thing! I'm trying, I'm trying," he said on the podium. "Today we didn't have that probably Friday pace we showed in practice to have the pace on Mercedes, so a little disappointed obviously to miss out.

"Of course I came here to win and really wanted it," he added. "But second place is great and I’m not going to complain about it.”

Force India has confirmed Sergio Perez will remain with the team for a fifth season in 2018 after signing another one-year deal.

The Mexican was scooped up by the Silverstone-based outfit in 2014, following his dumping by McLaren the year prior, and has gone on to become their most successful driver scoring four of his seven career podiums.

His retention was widely expected with murmurings of a new contract being close for several weeks. That's despite an increasingly fractious relationship with teammate Esteban Ocon over the summer, with the pair making contact twice in Baku and Belgium and having another minor controversy earlier in the year in Canada.

But with Force India still easily on course to match the fourth-place finish they achieved last year in the Constructors' Championship and with no seats available at the top three teams, Perez admitted there was little point in looking elsewhere.

“Staying with Sahara Force India was always my priority," he claimed. "It’s a team that has allowed me to show my talents as a driver and I feel very happy here. I’m proud of everything we have already achieved together and I think there is more to come. The team has done an amazing job this year to develop the car and establish our position as the fourth best team in Formula One. In the

"I’m proud of everything we have already achieved together and I think there is more to come. The team has done an amazing job this year to develop the car and establish our position as the fourth best team in F1. In the end, it was an easy decision to continue our journey together.”

Also commenting on the contract extension, Force India owner Vijay Mallya spoke about the reputation Perez, who currently sits as the best midfield driver in seventh in the Drivers' standings, has carved during his time with the team.

“Sergio has played an important role in our success story over the last few years," he said. "Since joining us in 2014, he has matured to become one of the quickest and most consistent drivers on the grid. His track record speaks for itself as the most successful Force India driver ever with four podiums.

"Alongside Esteban, retaining Sergio gives us stability going into next season and one of the most exciting driver pairings in F1.”