Singapore GP: Verstappen on pole, Russell last – recap and predictions

Max Verstappen won a rain-hit Sprint and then took the 50th pole of his career, on a Saturday in Singapore that cost George Russell a race win and left McLaren with a single point.

Max Verstappen will start tonight’s Singapore Grand Prix from pole. He beat Charles Leclerc by just 0.054s, with Lewis Hamilton third. It is his first pole at Marina Bay, a circuit where he has never won a Grand Prix.

A few hours earlier, he won Singapore’s first-ever F1 Sprint, which started late because of standing water. Eight cars failed to finish. The race leader crashed out on the opening lap, and the two McLarens collided on the final one.

The Grand Prix starts at 20:00 local time over 62 laps. The FIA’s Heat Hazard declaration is still in force.

Russell crashes from the lead as rain wrecks the Sprint

Rain arrived just before the 17:00 start, and the formation lap was pushed back to 17:30 behind the Safety Car.

George Russell made a strong getaway from second and led the opening lap. At the end of that lap he spun from the lead and went out of the race, bringing out the Safety Car. He took the blame in an Instagram story: “A misjudgement on my behalf and a silly mistake.”

Three more cars retired during the Safety Car period: Lance Stroll, Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto. Stroll’s race ended after contact with Sergio Pérez at Turn 16.

During preparations for the restart, the field concertina’d at Turn 16. Alex Albon hit Gabriel Bortoleto, and Valtteri Bottas then hit Albon. All three eventually retired.

Verstappen controlled the race from there and beat Hamilton by 2.591s. Hamilton set the fastest lap, a 1:45.457 on the final lap. Liam Lawson took fifth for Racing Bulls. Oliver Bearman was sixth for Haas after a standout move in the wet. Nico Hülkenberg scored two points for Audi in seventh, which the team called its first points in a Sprint.

Did not finish: Albon (14 laps), Bortoleto (6), Bottas (6), Hadjar (2), Colapinto (2), Russell (1), Pérez (1), Stroll (0).

For more on the race, read our Sprint report.

McLaren team-mates collide on the final lap

McLaren were running fourth and fifth, chasing Leclerc’s Ferrari, when Lando Norris dived down the inside of Oscar Piastri at Turn 5 on the last lap. The two cars touched at the apex. Piastri went into the barrier, and Norris crossed the line eighth for a single point. Piastri was still classified 14th, having completed 19 of the 20 laps.

The stewards heard from both drivers and ruled that both had contributed, with neither wholly or predominantly to blame. They took no further action (FIA Documents 58 and 59).

The drivers saw it differently. Norris told the stewards he believed his front axle was ahead of Piastri’s mirror before the apex, and insisted afterwards he had the right to go for the gap. Piastri said he had not expected the move and called it a fight for “fourth and fifth in a sprint.” Team principal Andrea Stella reportedly called the collision unacceptable and said it would be dealt with privately.

McLaren’s own post summed it up: “Our two cars make contact on the final lap whilst chasing down the Ferrari.” Fan reaction on social media came down heavily on Norris.

The pair start fifth and sixth tonight.

Verstappen’s 50th pole, and a nightmare for Hadjar

Verstappen’s 1:31.373 in Q3 gave him pole by 0.054s from Leclerc, his 50th career pole. F1 says only four drivers had reached that mark before him. Hamilton had topped Q1 and Q2 but slipped to third after mistakes on his final run. He called his Ferrari “snappy.”

Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth. On Instagram he said his confidence with Mercedes‘ new package was improving after an “uphill start” to the weekend. Mercedes rebuilt Russell’s car in time for the session, and he qualified sixth. However, his engine penalty sends him to the back.

Pierre Gasly put the Alpine eighth. Racing Bulls got both cars into Q3, Lawson in ninth and Arvid Lindblad in tenth.

Hadjar’s Saturday went from bad to worse. After a technical retirement in the Sprint, he set no time in Q1, reporting engine cuts and then no gears. “Reliability was not on my side,” he said in a Red Bull post. He was outside the 107% time of 1:38.899, but the stewards allowed him to start (Document 71).

Singapore Grand Prix starting grid

Russell qualified sixth but starts 21st after his power-unit penalty. Hadjar starts 22nd after setting no time.

A busy night for the stewards, but no time penalties

Apart from a pit-lane start for Sainz, the stewards dealt with every Sprint and Qualifying incident without a time penalty, grid drop or fine.

The “retired, so no penalty” rule. Three drivers were found at fault in the Sprint but went unpunished because they had already retired. In each case the stewards judged a 5-second penalty appropriate. Such penalties usually do not convert into grid drops, so none was applied.

• Albon and Bottas (Documents 61 and 62): the stewards said both collisions behind the Safety Car came from a concertina effect, as cars ahead slowed unevenly. They still ruled that each driver should have left more room in the damp. Each would have received a reduced 5-second penalty rather than the usual 10.
• Pérez (Document 54): he started a legitimate move on Stroll at Turn 16, but locked his front-right and was found predominantly to blame. Stroll was cleared (Document 53).

A timing glitch saves Hülkenberg. In Qualifying, Hülkenberg was driving slowly on the racing line at Turn 5 when Carlos Sainz arrived on a push lap and had to abandon it. The stewards agreed Sainz had been unnecessarily impeded, a breach of the rules. However, Williams had told Sainz over the radio that Hülkenberg had already taken the chequered flag. That information came from official timing data that was briefly out of sync. The stewards called these “extraordinary mitigating circumstances” and gave no penalty (Document 73).

It is the second time this weekend that an FIA-side system failure has hurt Williams, after the race control error that hit Sprint Qualifying.

Sainz from the pit lane. Williams had already been caught out on Saturday morning: they changed Sainz’s suspension set-up under parc fermé conditions without the Technical Delegate’s approval. He had to start the Sprint from the pit lane (Document 37) and recovered to 12th.

The other cases also ended with no further action:

• Lindblad reversed about 100 metres after spinning at Turn 5. The stewards ruled it was not unsafe in the circumstances.
• Bearman was over the maximum Safety Car-line time because he had slowed to let another car through.
• In Qualifying, seven drivers broke the same time limit for the same reason (Document 72).
• Kimi Antonelli lost a 1:32.818 lap for track limits at Turn 2.

Russell goes over his allocation, and Alpine explains Colapinto’s retirement

Russell over the limit. The FIA Technical Delegate’s report (Document 57) shows Mercedes fitted Russell’s car with a fourth energy store and a fourth control electronics unit. Only three of each are allowed per season, so both new parts are over his allocation. No separate penalty document had been published by Sunday morning. He already starts from the back after the 40-place drop for his earlier engine change.

Alpine finds a battery fault. In an Instagram update, Alpine said it found an issue with the energy store on Colapinto’s car after his Sprint retirement. The team replaced it with a unit from his existing pool before Qualifying, so there is no penalty, and is still investigating the cause. Colapinto then scraped the barrier in Qualifying and will start 15th.

Used parts for Hadjar. The parc fermé report (Document 38) shows Red Bull fitted Hadjar’s car with a previously used engine and turbocharger before the Sprint, along with a new fuel collector. The Technical Delegate approved all of these changes. Hadjar has already used more engines than anyone else on the grid this season.

Qualifying scrutineering found every car compliant (Document 68). Sainz’s Williams went through a 17-point aerodynamic and bodywork check during the session.

Championship picture: Antonelli 89 points clear before the Grand Prix

Russell’s Sprint crash cost him a chance to close the gap. Antonelli’s fourth place stretched his lead to 89 points. Verstappen’s eight points lifted him to fifth, one point behind Leclerc and seven ahead of Norris.

In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes (561) lead Ferrari (418), McLaren (317) and Red Bull (306). The FIA notes that both tables are still subject to Audi’s appeal against the Italian Grand Prix result involving Yuki Tsunoda. See the full F1 standings.

What to watch tonight

• Verstappen’s first Singapore win? He starts from pole after converting last weekend’s Sepang win into momentum, but Marina Bay has never gone his way.
• Ferrari’s double threat. Leclerc and Hamilton start second and third, and Hamilton set the fastest lap in the Sprint.
• Russell’s charge. Last on the grid and 89 points behind his team-mate, he needs a big recovery drive to keep his title hopes alive.
• McLaren side by side. Norris and Piastri share row three, less than 24 hours after their collision.
• The weather. After Saturday’s downpour, any more rain could reshuffle a race that already has a Heat Hazard in force.

Our predictions

Marina Bay is one of the hardest tracks on the calendar for overtaking, so track position is everything. Our calls are based on Saturday’s pace, the grid and the weekend’s reliability record.

These are the editorial team’s predictions, not official forecasts.

Follow all our Singapore Grand Prix coverage and the latest F1 news.