Red Bull's Max Verstappen won an incident-packed sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix after Mercedes driver George Russell crashed out of the lead. Russell was leading in tricky conditions, with half the track dry and half wet, when he got a little too wide at the final corner at the end of the first lap. He lost control of his Mercedes, which spun across the track into the inside wall, before bouncing back to the outside, the rest of the field somehow avoiding him.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton took second having made a superb start from sixth on the grid, with team-mate Charles Leclerc third. A final-lap collision between the McLarens as Lando Norris tried to pass Oscar Piastri at Turn Five promoted Russell's team-mate Kimi Antonelli to fourth place. Combined with Russell's retirement, that extends the Italian's championship lead to 89 points.
A chaotic race saw the start delayed by 30 minutes by a tropical downpour. Verstappen then navigated a safety car period following Russell's accident, a restart, and early pressure from Hamilton, before easing away into a comfortable lead. It was the Dutchman's second Formula 1 win in seven days, after his maiden victory this season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and his first time winning in Singapore.
Russell said: "I just misjudged it, got more power than I was expecting from the battery, got a little wider than I expected and touched the white line. Rule number one in the wet is don't touch the white line. Very silly mistake." The stewards will investigate the Norris-Piastri incident after the race. Grand prix qualifying will begin 30 minutes later than originally scheduled, at 14:30 BST.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing