In an intense edition of the sprint of the Singapore GP, Max Verstappen achieved victory from pole position, after George Russell abandoned the race due to an accident at the end of the first lap.
A downpour soaked the starting grid 15 minutes before the scheduled start, and some sections of the Marina Bay Street Circuit remained dry. The race was delayed by half an hour due to water accumulation in corners 2 and 3.
At the start of the sprint, the track conditions were uneven, and all vehicles started on intermediate tires, after two formation laps.
Russell, starting from the front row, had a better start than Verstappen, taking the lead before the first corner, with Lewis Hamilton moving from sixth to third position. Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, Liam Lawson, and Pierre Gasly followed him, while Isack Hadjar dropped to 11th position.
Russell’s fortune was short-lived, as he lost control of his Silver Arrow while exiting the last corner, crashing into the inner wall at the end of the first lap. In another incident, Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez collided at corner 16, leaving the Aston Martin stranded against the barriers. Hadjar had to retire due to a motor brake issue.
The safety car was deployed, neutralizing the race for five laps. During this period, Arvid Lindblad had an off-track excursion that forced him back into last position, while Franco Colapinto also had to retire due to a technical failure.
On the restart, Verstappen maintained the first position, while Oliver Bearman passed Gasly to take eighth place after an intense battle in the first sector. Gasly, for his part, lost two more positions complaining that Nico Hülkenberg pushed him to the outside, but the stewards took no action.
The gap between Verstappen and Hamilton fluctuated between 0.7 and 1.4 seconds between laps 7 and 11, but from lap 13 onward, Verstappen began to pull away, reaching a 3-second advantage by lap 16.
With the track mostly dry, tire management played a crucial role. Leclerc reported that his front tires were “destroyed” and began to lose time to Hamilton, while the McLarens also started to apply pressure.
On the last lap, Norris attacked Piastri on the inside, but the two McLarens collided, causing the reigning champion to drop to eighth position and his teammate to retire, costing the team eight points.
Meanwhile, Verstappen crossed the finish line with a 2.6 second advantage over Hamilton, who defended third place against the McLaren drivers. Antonelli inherited fourth position, followed by Lawson, Bearman, and Hülkenberg.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_2bfac5fd1c99afd9960c244c2db3beb562eb16c8