Verstappen claims long-sought victory at Singapore Grand Prix from Leclerc and Antonelli
Max Verstappen took his first Singapore Grand Prix victory on his 250th race start with Red Bull, as Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli complete the podium in a strategic race under the lights.
Race Report
The top two were on softs, with Hamilton opting for the medium tyres. As the five lights went out, Leclerc attempted to seize the lead after a rapid launch but Verstappen clung on to the lead despite the Ferrari being on the inside.
Into Lap 3, the top 10 remained Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, Nico Hülkenberg, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz. Right outside the points positions, the two Haas drivers were battling for 11th, with Ollie Bearman managing a brave move on Esteban Ocon at Turn 5 to move up a place.
Meanwhile, Russell’s recovery drive had taken him to 16th by Lap 5, while fellow driver starting at the back, Isack Hadjar, occupied 20th. Further up the road, Bearman’s charge continued as he plucked off Sainz for 10th.
At the sharp end, Leclerc continued to stay within striking distance of Verstappen. On Lap 9, Gabriel Bortoleto pulled out of the race with a gearbox issue, inviting the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) to neutralise the race.
As we returned to green flag racing, the order remained unchanged, barring Ocon making up a place from Sainz for 11th. Meanwhile Russell had joined this pack in 13th.
Soon enough, strategy options were being discussed over the radio, with Leclerc electing for a strategy opposite Verstappen and the Red Bull driver told to continue eking out his soft tyres. The other Red Bull of Hadjar was now up in 15th.
On Lap 19, Hamilton was the first to blink, swapping his mediums for a set of soft tyres, rejoining the pack in seventh, quickly making up a place from Lawson to find himself behind the McLaren pair.
Leclerc meanwhile felt he needed to stop soon as well, raising it up with the team.
Elsewhere, Antonelli had racked up two track limit pings, with Norris calling out the Mercedes driver as well. The Mercedes driver then entered the pits on Lap 24, taking on the medium compound and coming out just behind Hamilton.
That same lap, Leclerc was called in from second, going onto the medium compound, and rejoining right ahead of his teammate.
Unsurprisingly, Hamilton lobbied for team orders, feeling he was quicker than Leclerc. The Monégasque driver quickly responded and set the fastest lap.
Meanwhile in the race lead, Verstappen had opened up an 18-second gap to Norris in second, both drivers and Piastri in third yet to pit.
Further back, Franco Colapinto had stopped on track but managed to get going again and pulled away into the run-off area, circumventing the need for a Safety Car and becoming the second retirement of the day.
On Lap 33, race leader Verstappen boxed for mediums, quickly followed by Norris and Piastri the following lap.
After the first round of stops for the frontrunners, the top 10 was occupied by Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Russell, Lawson, Hülkenberg and Gasly — Russell yet to stop.
Meanwhile, Antonelli had picked up a black and white flag for track limits, with one more transgression set to result in a penalty. Another driver with a black and white flag was Lance Stroll, due to a clutch issue. The Aston Martin car was then parked up on track, bringing out another VSC on Lap 40 of 62.
Leclerc and Antonelli boxed, with Russell also peeling into the pits just as the VSC ended, getting only half of the benefit of a VSC pitstop.
On Lap 41, the order was led by Verstappen, followed by Hamilton, Leclerc, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Lawson, Hülkenberg, Gasly and Russell in tenth.
The following lap, McLaren elected to pit Piastri to ditch the medium tyres, most drivers favouring the soft compound.
Meanwhile all eyes were on the Ferrari pair, with Leclerc on fresher tyres behind Hamilton, whose pitwall had missed the opportunity to pit under the VSC and had to now decide when or whether to pit the seven-time world champion.
Leclerc sailed past Hamilton on Lap 46, leaving him to the mercy of Norris five seconds away. The McLaren driver rapidly began closing in on Hamilton, two seconds behind the Ferrari on Lap 50.
Just behind him, Antonelli had been pinged for another track limits violation, one investigation away from a penalty.
With 10 laps to go, the key battle that was gaining steam was for third between Hamilton, Norris and Antonelli, while in the lead, Verstappen had lost a whole tenth to Leclerc and additionally, was harbouring radio communication issues.
Norris attempted a move on Hamilton but the Ferrari driver ran wide, however rejoining after properly taking to the escape road. Antonelli capitalised on the drama and moved up past Norris, plucking off Hamilton as well on the fresher soft tyres.
Norris soon passed Hamilton as well, as the Ferrari driver tumbled down to fifth after starting third.
Further back, Hadjar managed to climb into the points after a pass on Gasly for 10th.
On the penultimate lap, things went from bad to worse for Hamilton who was now being reeled in by Piastri in sixth. The McLaren driver made the move through Turn 16, sending Hamilton from third to sixth.
As the chequered flag fell, Verstappen took his first ever Singapore victory, followed by Leclerc, Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Lawson, Hülkenberg, Russell and Hadjar.
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