Verstappen wins Singapore Sprint as Russell adds his name to record list of retirements

SINGAPORE – Max Verstappen won the Singapore Sprint on a drying Marina Bay circuit ahead of Lewis Hamilton, after early race leader George Russell crashed out on the opening corner.

Five drivers in total retired before the race was restarted on Lap 6, a further three were out in an incident that will see Alex Albon heading to the stewards, and Lando Norris punted Oscar Piastri into retirement on the final lap.

Max Verstappen won the Singapore Sprint ahead of Lewis Hamilton

The start of the 21-lap Singapore Grand Prix Sprint was delayed as the rain bucketed down as the drivers arrived on the grid.

The FIA announced: “Start delayed due to the rain, there is a large amount of standing water around Turn 2 and 3.”

The start procedure got underway 30 minutes late, with the two formation laps taking place behind the Safety Car. That meant the Sprint was reduced from 21 laps to 20.

There was a lot of spray as the drivers covered the formation laps, with Lando Norris reporting that it was “very bad”. A standing start was announced.

George Russell, starting second on the grid, snatched the lead from Max Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton flying off the line from sixth to third ahead of Charles Leclerc . Behind them, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris went wheel-to-wheel but the Australian remained ahead of his teammate. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli remained seventh.

Safety Car!

Russell went from leading the Sprint to binning it as he came out of the final corner and touched the slippery white paint as he put down the power. He lost control of his W17 and slid across the track, hitting the wall nose-first on the start-finish straight.

Lance Stroll’s Sprint was also over as he and Sergio Perez made contact at Turn 16 as they battled for position. Perez made it back into the pit lane for a new front wing, but retired with Stroll also out the race.

As the drivers lapped behind the Safety Car and went through the pit lane, Isack Hadjar became the third retirement. He reported that his “engine braking” had “died”, and was told to stop his car.

Franco Colapinto added his name to the rapidly increasing list of drivers retiring from the race as he stopped at Turn 14, and climbed out of his stricken Alpine.

As the drivers continued lapping behind the Safety Car, Arvid Lindblad spun out of Turn 4. He had to drive the wrong way to a wider part of track to find the room to spin his Racing Bulls to face the right direction. Lindblad was noted for driving the wrong way on the track.

The Safety Car was in at the end of Lap 6, with drivers reporting that the track was drying – and quickly.

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Verstappen backed up the pack before storming off ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Oliver Bearman squeezed through on Pierre Gasly to work his way into the points.

Alex Albon collided with Gabriel Bortoleto as the Williams driver rear-ended the Audi, with both drivers into the pits for repairs. Valtteri Bottas also in the mix as he and Bortoleto retired. Albon was running last – over 50s down on 14th placed Lindblad. He too was under investigation.

Gasly’s battles continued as he was left annoyed with Nico Hulkenberg as they tried to work their way into the points.

At the front, Verstappen was putting distance between himself and Hamilton with his advantage up to 3.7s on Lap 14 of the 20-lap Sprint. Behind them, Hamilton was keeping Leclerc out of Overtake Mode, with the McLarens three seconds behind the second Ferrari.

Albon was the eighth retirement as he was told to “box, box” his damaged Williams.

Verstappen’s lead was a comfortable five seconds with four laps remaining, with the closest contest behind him the McLaren drivers as Norris closed to within a second of Piastri, giving him Overtake Mode. And Antonelli was closing in on the McLaren pair. The Italian was notably hunting for the wet parts of the track.

Heading into the final lap, Leclerc, Piastri, Norris and Antonelli were running wing-to-wing. Norris tried to dive down the inside of his teammate but the two collided. Norris was able to get going, but Piastri was out of the race. The stewards will investigate that incident.

Verstappen took the chequered ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc with championship leader Antonelli up to fourth. Norris scored a single point in eighth place.

Singapore Grand Prix: Sprint top ten

1 Max Verstappen Red Bull
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +2.5
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +16.8
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +17.2
5 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +20.6
6 Oliver Bearman Haas +24.3
7 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +27.5
8 Lando Norris McLaren +28.2
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine +36.2
10 Esteban Ocon Haas +37.6

The full Sprint results from the Singapore Grand Prix

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