Verstappen breezes to first Singapore GP win as Antonelli brings title within reach

Max Verstappen claimed his first Singapore Grand Prix victory with a dominant performance that easily dispatched his closest pursuer, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen got a good start and swung immediately left to cover Leclerc, who got an even better launch from second on the grid with a clear view to the first-turn apex. They ran side by side towards the braking zone, but Leclerc blinked first, backing out before Verstappen turned in, conceding the corner.

No getaway problems for Verstappen this time, and he was off and running. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Verstappen converting pole into the lead ensured the top six remained in their starting order for the first stint, but Lewis Hamilton, starting third, had a strategic card to play as the only one of them starting on the medium tire, giving him potentially greater tactical flexibility.

Red Bull Racing told the leader early that extending with his opening set of softs would be beneficial, and after managing the gap to Leclerc for the first 10 laps, he began to ease forward. By lap 16 he had gapped the field by 3s and put more than 7s to Hamilton.

By lap 17, however, Hamilton was reporting that his rear tires were fading. He dropped to 10s off the lead by lap 18 and was suddenly fighting a rearguard action ahead of Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

It was clear the medium tire was weaker than the softs, making it easy for Ferrari to pre-empt the undercut, pitting Hamilton early, on lap 18, to switch him to the red-marked rubber. It ensured he retained position when Antonelli pitted on lap 23, and it put him back onto Leclerc’s tail when the latter stopped for mediums on the following tour.

Hamilton radioed two laps later that he was losing as much as 2s per lap stuck behind the sister car, but the team instead told him to up his management “for tires and performance.”

It was music to Verstappen’s ears, who cruised serenely to his first stop on lap 32, when he switched to mediums without losing the lead. Rejoining the race with an effective lead of almost 5s, he stroked the car to the checkered flag for a comfortable 7.3s first Singapore victory.

“It’s taken a while, but I think this race was very good,” he said. “We had pace when we needed to have it.

“I think the last few races have been really positive for us. It’s just good to see. We have a lot of motivation in the team to try and deliver even more results. Hopefully we can have a bit more fun to the end of the year.”

A lap 39 virtual safety car for Lance Stroll’s stopped Aston Martin at Turn 15 gave Ferrari a chance to pit Leclerc off his mediums and onto softs, losing only one place to Hamilton.

Hamilton’s 8s deficit with 20-lap-old tires left him unable to close the gap to Verstappen, but Leclerc was lapping at a ferocious pace, and on lap 46 he caught and passed his teammate easily to resume second place. He initially ate into Verstappen's lead, but the Dutchman was in total control, leaving Leclerc to finish a distant second.

“I believed in [the strategy] until the very end, but I pushed a lot at the beginning of the last stint and degraded a bit more than the others,” he said. “I gave it all and don’t regret anything.

“I don’t think there was much more to do today apart from maybe be a bit more aggressive at the start. That’s the way it is.”

Hamilton chose not to make a second stop despite advice that his tires wouldn’t go the distance, and he faded badly as the final stint wore on. By lap 52 Norris and Antonelli were on his tail, the latter having also stopped behind the virtual safety car.

The Englishman had been warned that his tires wouldn’t make the distance and stuck it out anyway, defending steadfastly from the faster cars. On lap 54 he squeezed Norris into the first turn and outbraked himself, taking to the run-off zone at Turn 2 and rejoining at Turn 3 still in third place.

Norris, having been put off his line, lost momentum, and Antonelli swooped ahead, and by the end of that lap he had deprived Hamilton of a spot on the podium at the final chicane.

Hamilton resumed his defense on Norris, but he could last only one more lap, and the McLaren barged through on lap 55. But by then Antonelli had sprinted away, his Mercedes much quicker in clear air, to cement his place on the podium.

“It was a very tough race out there, but really happy with the podium,” said the Italian. “To bring it home P3 is a great result for the team – very happy with that.”

The result extended Antonelli’s title lead to 102 points with six rounds remaining, giving him a chance to seal his first world championship at Circuit of The Americas’ U.S. Grand Prix on Oct. 25.

“Let’s not worry about that!” the surprised Italian said. “Let’s try to do the best weekend possible and finish the job.”

Norris finished fourth ahead of Piastri, who demoted Hamilton to sixth on the penultimate lap despite having had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a slow puncture earlier in the race.

Liam Lawson headed the midfield for Racing Bulls ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg.

George Russell recovered from a penalized 19th on the grid to score two points for ninth. The Englishman had been seventh when the virtual safety car was called and headed to pit lane for his first service, but the caution ended on his way in, and he was deprived of the benefit. He dropped to 10th but could recover only one place before the checkered flag.

Isack Hadjar passed Pierre Gasly for the final point of the race with four laps remaining, completing a mammoth recovery from pit lane.

Gasly finished a lap down in 11th ahead of Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Arvid Lindblad, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas.

Franco Colapinto and Valtteri Bottas joined Stroll on the retirement list.

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