Verstappen Claims His 73rd Formula 1 Victory in Singapore

With pole, the Sprint, and the Singapore Grand Prix in Formula 1 going his way, Max Verstappen collected the 33 possible points from the weekend and secured his first victory at Marina Bay. Charles Leclerc was second, and Kimi Antonelli, who finished third, can be champion at Austin.

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Verstappen had competed nine times at Marina Bay without winning. On Saturday he won the Sprint, on Sunday he started from his 50th pole and led all 62 laps. It was his 250th Formula 1 Grand Prix and the 73rd victory of his career.

Red Bull had already won at Sepang, where the Bahrain Grand Prix was held due to the security situation in the Gulf. It was their first victory with the power unit they developed together with Ford. The upgrades from recent races explain the difference from the first part of the year, when Verstappen could not consistently fight for wins.

Ferrari called in its two drivers on different laps

Leclerc reacted better than Verstappen when the lights went out and arrived right on the Red Bull's gearbox at the first corner. Verstappen closed toward the inside, forcing the Ferrari to lift off. Hamilton started third on medium tires, unlike the top two, who used softs. Antonelli ran fourth, followed by Norris and Piastri. Leclerc's softs lost performance as the laps went by, Verstappen opened a gap, and by lap 11 Hamilton was about three seconds behind his teammate.

The first neutralization was a Virtual Safety Car, activated when Gabriel Bortoleto stopped his Audi on the main straight with a gearbox problem. Those at the front did not pit, among other reasons because the Audi could obstruct pit entry.

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On lap 18, Ferrari called in Hamilton to fit fresh softs. The aim was to recover pace to pressure Leclerc, since a car on fresh tires is usually faster than one on worn rubber. Antonelli switched to mediums on lap 23 and Leclerc came in a lap or two later. He came out ahead of Hamilton, who asked over the radio to be allowed to attack at his own pace. Leclerc responded with a fast lap, and Ferrari kept the order.

The Virtual Safety Car for Stroll's retirement leaves Hamilton without third place

Verstappen stopped only once, on lap 33, with enough of a gap to return to the track still in first place. Leclerc closed the gap somewhat in the final stint, but was never close enough to attack. He finished seven seconds back.

The second Virtual Safety Car came on lap 39, for Lance Stroll's retirement with a clutch problem. With the whole track at reduced pace, stopping costs less time than under normal conditions, so Leclerc and Antonelli came in to fit fresh softs. Ferrari did not call in Hamilton, who continued on the softs from lap 18, and those tires were no longer enough for him to defend in the closing laps.

On lap 54, Norris closed in on Hamilton to attack. Hamilton ran wide and went off the racing line, which Antonelli used to pass him and move into third place. Norris also managed to pass him, and Piastri did the same on the final lap. Hamilton, who had started third, finished sixth.

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Antonelli can be champion at Austin with just a win

Antonelli finished in the top three for the fourteenth time this year. That took him to 340 points, with Russell on 238, Hamilton on 229, Verstappen on 221, Leclerc on 215, and Norris on 201. The gap to Russell stood at 102 points, 13 more than at the end of the Sprint.

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There are six races left, Austin, Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, with no more Sprints. The five that follow Austin award a maximum of 125 points to a single driver, so Antonelli can only be champion at Texas if he wins and leaves all his pursuers more than that figure behind. For that, Russell must score one point or none, Hamilton ten or fewer, and Verstappen no more than 18. With any other result, the championship remains open at least until Mexico.

Russell finishes ninth and McLaren recovers points

Russell arrived at Singapore with the Sprint crash, in which he was leading. He also had a penalty for changing power unit components, which sent him to the back of the grid. He fought back into the points, but the Virtual Safety Car caught him at the wrong moment and he dropped to tenth. He recovered one position to finish ninth with two points. At Sepang he had retired with a power unit failure while running third, so it is two weekends in a row with problems.

Norris was fourth and Piastri was fifth, which allowed McLaren to recover points it had lost in the Sprint, where both of its cars crashed. Lawson finished seventh with Racing Bulls. Hülkenberg was eighth with Audi. Isack Hadjar closed out the top ten with a point, after starting from the back because he could not set a time in qualifying due to mechanical problems in his Red Bull.

In the constructors' standings, Mercedes remains on top with 578 points, followed by Ferrari on 444, McLaren on 339, and Red Bull on 332. Verstappen ended up fourth in the drivers' championship, eight points behind Hamilton. He also had radio issues. His engineer gave him instructions using coded messages, asking him to open or close the microphone to respond to pit stop options, without that affecting his pace.

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At Austin, Antonelli will have his first mathematical chance to be champion, although he needs to win and for Russell and Hamilton to score very little. Verstappen will be looking for a third consecutive victory with a Red Bull that is now seven points behind McLaren in the constructors' standings. Ferrari needs its qualifying pace to be enough to finish the race in the top three, something that slipped away from Hamilton at Singapore.

Singapore Grand Prix

Pos.	No.	Driver	team	time
1	#3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	-
2	#16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+7.335s
3	#12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+24.573s
4	#1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+40.506s
5	#81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+49.644s
6	#44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+53.188s
7	#30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1:21.666
8	#27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+1:23.386
9	#63	George Russell	Mercedes	+1:24.677
10	#6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+1:30.862
11	#10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1 LAP
12	#87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1 LAP
13	#31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+1 LAP
14	#55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+1 LAP
15	#41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1 LAP
16	#14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1 LAP
17	#11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+2 LAPS
DNF	#23	Alexander Albon	Williams	-
19	#77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+3 LAPS
DNF	#18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	-
DNF	#43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	-
DNF	#5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	-