Max Verstappen followed up his victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia by winning Saturday’s Sprint around the streets of Singapore.
Verstappen mastered 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 tires.
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.
“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,” Verstappen explained. “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.
“We just tried to bring it home, and of course, happy to win here in the Sprint, but I also know that I want to win tomorrow.”
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 as their lines converged at Turn 5, sent both into a spin, 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.
