Alonso went from P9 to P5 before the first corner of the race, and ran fifth until making his first stop.

The Spaniard eventually went on to finish seventh, passed by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, and admitted he had been holding out hope for drama out front.

"I was P5, I dreamed about a podium position," Alonso said. "If on lap one you are P5 at Singapore. you know that some things always happen in front of you, so maybe P3 was possible even.

"But, yeah, nothing happened today in front of me, and behind they arrived very quickly, Vettel and Verstappen.

"Seventh was, I think, the maximum, best of the rest after the two Mercedes, two Red Bulls, two Ferraris. We were not the fourth-quickest team here, so to make seventh place today, thanks to the strategy and the guys, [makes me] happy."

Button's race "ended on first lap"

Alonso's teammate Jenson Button got a likewise good start, but damaged his car when trying to avoid the crashing Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.

He soldiered on for 43 laps before eventually calling it a day in the pits.

"To be fair, it [the race] ended on the first lap," Button said.

"Got a really good start, pulled alongside Bottas - and then Hulkenberg's car came across the circuit, I didn't see it until he was right in front of me, facing the wrong way.

"I had lifted and pulled to the right but there was nowhere really to go to the right. So I tagged Bottas with my front wing, which broke the front wing, and the brake ducts, and the floor.

"Pitted on lap one, got a new nose, new set of tyres, but still, the whole race, car was damaged and I was running with a lot less downforce, balance was completely wrong.

"The reason why we stopped was the brakes. Because of the damaged brake ducts, we were worried about brake failures."

Button went on to compliment the performance of teammate Alonso, saying the McLaren was not quick enough for a P7 finish in Singapore.

"Fernando did a good job today, I really don't think the car was quick enough to be seventh. He did a great job and others had problems.

"Fair play to him. He picked up the points when he could - hopefully the next race we'll be competitive as well."