By Joe Murphy
Max Verstappen has won his first Singapore Grand Prix at the tenth attempt, sealing a perfect weekend at Marina Bay with victory on his 250th Formula 1 start.
The four-time world champion, who had never previously taken pole or victory in Singapore, claimed Sprint pole, the Sprint win, Grand Prix pole and the Grand Prix itself. It was the 73rd win of his career and his second in succession after Malaysia a week earlier.
Verstappen made the decisive move at the start. After losing the lead off the line at Sepang, there was no repeat here. He defended the inside line into Turn One, held off Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, and then controlled the race from the front.
Leclerc shadowed him for the first 15 laps, never more than a second and a half adrift, but the race turned during the pit-stop phase. Verstappen switched from soft to medium tyres without issue. Leclerc stopped a lap later and emerged more than seven seconds behind. Even a radio failure in the second half, which forced Red Bull to communicate via the pit board, could not unsettle him. He crossed the line 7.335 seconds clear.
For Leclerc, second place was Ferrari’s first podium in Singapore since 2022. He also set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:35.202 on lap 41.
Kimi Antonelli finished third for Mercedes in what may prove to be the most significant result of the night. The 19-year-old was shown the black-and-white flag for track limits and had to manage his pace, but still finished 17 seconds ahead of Lando Norris in fourth. The result extends his lead in the drivers’ championship to 102 points over team-mate George Russell with six rounds remaining.
Russell endured a miserable weekend. He retired from third in Malaysia with a power unit failure, crashed out of the lead in the Singapore Sprint, and started Sunday’s race from the back of the grid after taking a new power unit. He recovered to ninth, but now needs a dramatic turnaround to stay in title contention.
McLaren finished fourth and fifth after a bruising Saturday that saw Norris and Oscar Piastri collide in the Sprint. Norris led home Piastri by nine seconds, with both drivers complaining of overheating in the humid conditions. Lewis Hamilton, who had pushed Verstappen hard in qualifying, faded to sixth after Ferrari extended his second stint on mediums.
Liam Lawson was seventh for Racing Bulls, continuing his strong run of form, with Nico Hülkenberg eighth for Audi, Russell ninth and Isack Hadjar tenth despite starting from the pit lane following overnight set-up changes.
Pierre Gasly finished 11th for Alpine, ahead of Ollie Bearman 12th and Esteban Ocon 13th for Haas. Carlos Sainz was 14th for Williams, Arvid Lindblad 15th for Racing Bulls, Fernando Alonso 16th for Aston Martin, Sergio Pérez 17th for Cadillac two laps down, Alex Albon classified 18th despite stopping on lap 59, and Valtteri Bottas 19th three laps down.
Three drivers retired: Lance Stroll with seven laps remaining, Franco Colapinto on lap 33 and Gabriel Bortoleto on lap 26.
For Verstappen, it was a long overdue win at a circuit that had always eluded him. For Antonelli, third place may yet prove to be the drive that secures him the championship.
