Verstappen wins dramatic, rain-hit Singapore Sprint as Russell crashes and McLarens collide

Max Verstappen followed up his victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia by winning Saturday’s Sprint around the streets of Singapore – mastering the mixed weather conditions while George Russell crashed out early on and the McLaren drivers clashed in the closing stages.

After a pre-race downpour, which soaked the first and third sectors of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, while leaving the middle sector merely damp, the action got under way around half an hour later than planned, with all drivers running the intermediate tyres.

In a repeat of last weekend’s start at Sepang, Russell charged past polesitter Verstappen in the slippery conditions and initially drove into the distance, only to undo that work by dramatically crashing at the final corner of the first lap.

Verstappen moved back into the lead as a result and, after nailing the race restart, the Dutchman never looked back – managing his intermediate tyres in ever-drying conditions and steadily pulling away from the Ferraris and McLarens behind.

Lewis Hamilton led the Ferrari charge after a rapid getaway that turned sixth into third (which became second when Russell crashed), over Charles Leclerc and McLaren team mates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who engaged in battle during the final laps.

With Leclerc reporting that his intermediate tyres were heavily worn on the drying track, and the McLaren cars closing in, Norris tagged Piastri into a spin as their lines converged at Turn 5 and flipped the situation on its head.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli took advantage to cross the line in fourth, with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Haas’ Ollie Bearman and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg also benefitting, as Norris slipped to eighth and Piastri stopped outright.

Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Esteban Ocon (Haas), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) were the last drivers to reach the chequered flag in an attritional race, while Piastri classified in a lapped 14th.

Alex Albon, Gabriel Bortoleto and Valtteri Bottas failed to finish in their Williams, Audi and Cadillac machines after a three-car collision; Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto both stopped in the early laps; while Cadillac’s Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll collided on the first tour.

AS IT HAPPENED

At the end of an exciting Sprint Qualifying session around the Marina Bay venue, it was Verstappen who grabbed pole from Russell, Leclerc and Piastri – the Dutchman subsequently avoiding a grid penalty after being investigated for a yellow flag incident in SQ1.

There was one change to the Sprint grid in the build-up to lights out, though, with Sainz – due to start at the very back of the field – moving to the pit lane when Williams carried out suspension set-up changes on his car under Parc Ferme Conditions.

As drivers got ready for the first ever Sprint in Singapore, they did so under extremely overcast skies and a growing threat of rain. Would it come down and cause some drama? Or would it break up around the circuit amid the intense heat?

Around 10 minutes away from the scheduled 1700 start, the answer came in the form of a downpour that soaked parts of the track – gazebos going up on the grid to cover the F1 cars, and the Medical Car being sent out to assess the conditions.

Following that track inspection, where the Medical Car splashed its way through plenty of puddles, the FIA confirmed that the start would be delayed – standing water at Turn 2 and 3 noted as particularly troublesome at this stage.

While the Medical Car carried out its latest inspections, the Mercedes drivers provided some light entertainment – Russell, having returned to the garage, surprising Antonelli with a message over the radio. “Who is this? Oh, George!” Antonelli chuckled, still sitting in his car on the grid.

At 1717, Race Control confirmed a 1730 formation lap, prompting drivers who had been sheltering in the pit lane to join those – like the aforementioned Antonelli – who had remained tucked into their cockpits under the gazebos.

As the clock hit half past, the Safety Car duly led the field away – the FIA adding that they anticipated at least two formation laps. All drivers were on the intermediate tyres, with some parts of the track still much wetter than others.

“The spray is very bad,” reported Piastri, fourth in the queue, as he navigated the first sector of the lap. The middle sector appeared to be much better – almost “completely dry” according to Lawson – before conditions worsened again through the last few corners.

After a couple of formation laps, Race Control settled on a standing start. “There’s a good chance we’ll go to slicks at some point,” reported Albon as the cars gradually lined up on the grid, and anticipation built for what could be a wild encounter.

When the lights went out, Russell made a clean getaway to pass Verstappen into Turn 1, with Hamilton vaulting to third over Leclerc, Piastri and Norris. Despite the tricky, slippery conditions, there were no major dramas to report in the opening corners.

However, disaster struck for leader Russell at the very end of the first lap when he lost control of his car exiting the final corner, slid across the track and slammed into the concrete wall. “I’m fine. Sorry, sorry, sorry,” the Briton lamented over the radio afterwards.

Russell was not the only early retirement, with Perez and Stroll coming to blows under braking for Turn 16 – the Aston Martin out on the spot, and the Cadillac limping back to the pits. Hadjar (coming to a halt at Turn 5) and Colapinto (stopping at Turn 14) then made it five DNFs in as many laps.

“It’s drying very quickly,” Piastri reported on the radio, as drivers maintained position behind the Safety Car. Everyone bar Lindblad, that was – replays showing him spinning out and dropping to last place, which was now 17th after those retirements.

At the end of Lap 6, the Safety Car lights switched off and racing resumed, with Verstappen keeping the lead over Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Norris and Antonelli. Behind, Bearman pulled a smart move on Gasly through Turns 1/2/3 for P8 and the final points-paying position.

Bortoleto, Albon and Bottas all pitted following an unseen incident at the restart. Replays then showed the Williams going into the back of the Audi, and the Cadillac going into the back of the Williams. Bortoleto and Bottas both retired, while Albon pressed on. Meanwhile, the stewards noted Hamilton for a potential yellow flag breach.

Live cameras then cut to Hulkenberg clearing Gasly for ninth position into Turn 1. “He pushed me wide. Hulkenberg didn’t leave me space,” the Alpine driver argued over the radio, to no avail, before losing another spot to the Haas of Ocon.

Halfway through proceedings, Verstappen led Hamilton by 1.3 seconds – the latter commenting that track was edging closer and closer to dry conditions, but still too wet in places. Leclerc sat third, from Piastri, Norris and Antonelli, with Lawson and Bearman rounding out the top eight.

While the track continued to dry out over the next few laps, nobody felt the need to pit for slick tyres. “We’re thinking ahead to a Safety Car. How far away is it from dry [tyres]?”, Norris was asked by his engineer. “It’s not,” came his response.

Around the same time, Leclerc reported that his front tyres were now “destroyed”, bringing increased pressure from Piastri and Norris behind. McLaren’s hopes of snatching a podium were dashed, though, when Norris launched a move on Piastri into Turn 5 and the pair made contact.

That incident meant Leclerc followed Verstappen and Hamilton home in third, while Antonelli climbed to fourth over Lawson, Bearman and Hulkenberg, and Norris was left to ponder what might have been – as well as any potential repercussions – in eighth.

Gasly took ninth after his early bid for points faded, followed by Ocon, Alonso, Sainz and Lindblad. All of them cleared Piastri, who ended up in a lapped 14th – the Australian having lost a whopping 10 places as a result of that intra-team collision.

Albon was a late retirement following his contact with Bortoleto and Bottas, with the stewards set to look into the moment the Williams rear-ended the Audi post-race. A separate note from the panel confirmed that there would be no further action over Hamilton’s alleged yellow flag incident.

Hadjar, Colapinto, Russell, Perez and Stroll watched most of the Sprint from the sidelines after their respective early-race dramas – the Mercedes man losing another five points to team mate Antonelli in the Drivers’ Championship standings, and now sitting 89 back.

Key quote

“I mean, the start was horrendous again, so that’s definitely something that we need to improve on, because if you have something like that tomorrow, that’s your race over, if nothing crazy happens,” said winner Verstappen. “So, yeah, not ideal, but then we got a bit lucky with what happened with George out of the last corner. And after that, we just wanted to keep it calm and under control, because you know that you can’t pass around here, and especially in a condition like this with the intermediates. So, we just tried to bring it home, and of course, I’m happy to win here in the Sprint, but I also know that I want to win tomorrow, not today.”

What’s next

Following the Sprint, the drivers will be back on track during Qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix later on Saturday at 2100 local time. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action.