F1 Singapore GP: Max Verstappen wins sprint, George Russell crashes out and McLarens collide

Max Verstappen took victory in the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race from pole position after George Russell crashed out of the lead at the end of the first lap.

A downpour soaked the starting grid 15 minutes before the scheduled start, while some parts of the Marina Bay Street Circuit remained dry. The race was delayed by half an hour due to the standing water in Turns 2 and 3.

When the sprint got underway, it was still a tale of two halves in terms of track conditions and all cars started on intermediate tyres after two formation laps.

Front-row starter Russell had a much better getaway than Verstappen and took the lead before Turn 1, with Lewis Hamilton up to third from sixth on the grid. Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly followed, with Isack Hadjar down to 11th.

Russell’s lead was short-lived, as he lost control of his Silver Arrow on the kerb at the exit of the last corner and spun into the inside wall at the end of lap one. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez collided at Turn 16, with the Aston Martin coming to a halt against the barriers, and Isack Hadjar retired after reporting “the engine braking is dying”.

The safety car was called into action, with the race neutralised for five laps – during which Arvid Lindblad spun, rejoining in last place after driving the wrong way down the track, and Franco Colapinto’s race ended because of a technical issue.

Verstappen maintained the lead at the restart, while Oliver Bearman snatched eighth place away from Gasly after wheel-to-wheel action throughout sector one. The Alpine driver lost another two positions over the following two laps; he complained of being pushed wide by Nico Hulkenberg, but the stewards took no further action.

Verstappen’s gap to Hamilton hovered between 0.7s and 1.4s from lap seven to lap 11 before the Red Bull racer significantly pulled away, with his advantage reaching three seconds at the end of lap 13 and five seconds by lap 16.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Morgan Hancock / LAT Images via Getty Images

The intermediate compound was greatly suffering on the mostly dry track, so it was all about tyre management. Leclerc reported his front tyres were “destroyed”; the Ferrari driver was losing two seconds a lap to team-mate Hamilton and was caught by the McLarens and Antonelli with three laps remaining.

Norris dove down the inside of Piastri on the very last lap, but the papaya cars made contact and spun; the reigning world champion dropped down to eighth, while his Australian team-mate retired, costing the team eight points.

Meanwhile, Verstappen romped to victory with a reduced but healthy 2.6s-second lead over Hamilton, as Leclerc held off the papaya cars for third. Antonelli inherited fourth ahead of Lawson, Bearman and Hulkenberg.

F1 Singapore GP Sprint Results

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		20	39'48.162		148.336	3	8		Red Bull	Red Bull
2	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		20	+2.591 39'50.753	2.591	148.175	3	7		Ferrari	Ferrari
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		20	+16.871 40'05.033	14.280	147.295	3	6		Ferrari	Ferrari
4	A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes	12		20	+17.238 40'05.400	0.367	147.273	3	5		Mercedes	Mercedes
5	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		20	+20.632 40'08.794	3.394	147.065	3	4		RB	Red Bull
6	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		20	+24.321 40'12.483	3.689	146.840	3	3		Haas	Ferrari
7	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		20	+27.525 40'15.687	3.204	146.645	3	2		Audi	Audi
8	L. Norris McLaren	1		20	+28.272 40'16.434	0.747	146.600	3	1		McLaren	Mercedes
9	P. Gasly Alpine	10		20	+36.220 40'24.382	7.948	146.120	3			Alpine	Mercedes
10	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		20	+37.640 40'25.802	1.420	146.034	3			Haas	Ferrari
11	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		20	+50.464 40'38.626	12.824	145.266	3			Aston Martin	Honda
12	C. Sainz Williams	55		20	+52.467 40'40.629	2.003	145.147	3			Williams	Mercedes
13	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		20	+55.792 40'43.954	3.325	144.949	3			RB	Red Bull
dnf	O. Piastri McLaren	81		19	+1 Lap 38'15.823	1 Lap	146.576	3		Retirement	McLaren	Mercedes
dnf	A. Albon Williams	23		14	+6 Laps 30'51.883	5 Laps	133.824	5		Retirement	Williams	Mercedes
dnf	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		6	+14 Laps 15'12.333	8 Laps	116.108	4		Retirement	Audi	Audi
dnf	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		6	+14 Laps 15'16.701	4.368	115.555	4		Retirement	Cadillac	Ferrari
dnf	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		2	+18 Laps 4'35.170	4 Laps	127.125	1		Retirement	Alpine	Mercedes
dnf	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		2	+18 Laps 4'32.186		128.519	1		Retirement	Red Bull	Red Bull
dnf	G. Russell Mercedes	63		1	+19 Laps 1'50.872	1 Lap	155.530			Retirement	Mercedes	Mercedes
dnf	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		1	+19 Laps 3'33.703	1'42.831	80.691	1		Retirement	Cadillac	Ferrari
dnf	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		0	20 Laps					Retirement	Aston Martin	Honda
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