Verstappen finally wins in Singapore as rain, crashes and McLaren chaos wreck F1 sprint

News Summary

• Max Verstappen won the Singapore GP sprint, taking his first victory at Marina Bay after a race delayed by heavy rain.
• Lewis Hamilton finished second and Charles Leclerc third, while championship contender George Russell crashed out shortly after taking the lead.
• Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collided on the final lap, with Piastri retiring, as Gabriel Bortoleto also failed to finish.

Max Verstappen finally ended his wait for a Formula 1 victory in Singapore on Saturday, October 10, winning a chaotic sprint at Marina Bay ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc after heavy rain delayed the start, George Russell crashed out of the lead and the two McLaren drivers collided on the final lap.

The Red Bull driver had started from pole but lost first place to Russell at the start. The Mercedes driver then spun into the barriers at the final corner on the second lap, bringing out the safety car and allowing Verstappen to regain control of the race.

The closing stages produced another dramatic incident when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collided while fighting for fourth place, eliminating the Australian and leaving Norris eighth. Gabriel Bortoleto was also among the drivers who retired from a sprint featuring seven abandonments.

Russell takes the lead — then crashes out

The sprint was originally scheduled to begin at 17:00 local time, but heavy rainfall left standing water across the Marina Bay Street Circuit, forcing the FIA to delay the start.

Race control rescheduled the formation lap for 17:30, with two formation laps completed before the field was released to race.

Russell made the better start from second on the grid, overtaking pole-sitter Verstappen and taking the lead in difficult conditions.

However, the Briton’s advantage lasted only until the second lap.

Replays showed Russell touching the kerb at the final corner before losing control of his Mercedes and striking the barriers near the main straight. The impact ended his race and triggered the safety car.

Russell climbed out of the damaged W17 uninjured, but the retirement cost him an opportunity to reduce his championship deficit to teammate Kimi Antonelli.

As GRANDE PRÊMIO reported during the race, Russell had been using Mercedes’ older aerodynamic specification after the team struggled to understand its latest upgrade.

Verstappen finally wins at Marina Bay

Verstappen had arrived in Singapore having won at 26 different Formula 1 circuits, but Marina Bay remained one of the few venues on the calendar where he had never reached the top step.

His previous best results were second-place finishes, including in 2018, 2024 and 2025.

The Dutchman had already demonstrated Red Bull’s improving competitiveness by taking sprint pole on Friday with a 1:31.156, just 0.120s ahead of Russell.

After qualifying, Verstappen admitted that he had not expected to lead the field at a circuit that continued to expose weaknesses in the RB22.

“But I did not expect this, so yeah, of course very happy to be first,” he said.

The four-time world champion also explained that the car had responded particularly well to soft tyres during SQ3, allowing him to produce his decisive lap.

Saturday’s victory followed his return to winning form at Sepang, where he secured Red Bull’s first Grand Prix victory of the 2026 season.

Hamilton finishes second as Ferrari takes double podium

Hamilton secured second place for Ferrari, ahead of teammate Leclerc, completing a strong result for the Italian team after both drivers had demonstrated competitive pace throughout the Singapore weekend.

The seven-time world champion had qualified sixth for the sprint after struggling with the balance of his Ferrari on soft tyres during SQ3.

He admitted on Friday that his decision to follow a different run plan had not produced the expected result.

“We did a slightly different run plan to the others. It was my choice, and… I think I got that wrong,” Hamilton said after sprint qualifying.

The Briton also complained about insufficient rear grip during his final qualifying attempt, having felt more comfortable on medium tyres earlier in the session.

Hamilton recovered from sixth on the grid to finish second in the sprint, while Leclerc completed the podium after starting third.

The Ferrari pair benefited from the incidents involving Russell and McLaren, while Verstappen remained ahead to secure victory.

Norris and Piastri collide on final lap

McLaren’s race ended in controversy when Norris and Piastri collided at Turn 4 on the final lap while fighting for fourth position.

The two drivers were running behind Leclerc and ahead of Antonelli when Norris attempted to pass his teammate around the outside.

The cars made contact, sending Piastri into a spin and ending the Australian’s race.

Norris managed to continue but dropped to eighth, collecting just one championship point.

The collision between the McLaren teammates came after both drivers had qualified inside the top five and appeared capable of scoring valuable points.

The incident was one of several that contributed to an unusually high number of retirements during the sprint.

Bortoleto retires as Singapore claims seven drivers

Gabriel Bortoleto was also unable to finish the sprint after starting 14th for Audi.

The Brazilian had narrowly missed SQ3 on Friday, qualifying with a 1:33.466, just 0.046s slower than teammate Nico Hülkenberg.

Bortoleto had acknowledged that Audi was still struggling to optimise its package for Marina Bay, where the narrow layout and limited overtaking opportunities made recovering positions difficult.

Saturday’s wet conditions added another complication, with standing water, reduced visibility and repeated interruptions affecting the field.

Alongside Russell, Piastri and Bortoleto, the race also featured retirements involving Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto, Valtteri Bottas and Alexander Albon.

The seven abandonments made Singapore’s first sprint one of the most incident-filled short races of the 2026 season.

Singapore GP 2026 — complete sprint race results

e final FIA classification.

Antonelli extends championship advantage

Russell’s retirement also had important consequences for the championship.

The Mercedes driver entered Singapore trailing Antonelli by 84 points, but his accident prevented him from scoring in the sprint.

Antonelli finished fourth and collected five points, extending his advantage over Russell to 89 points ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

The result further strengthened the Italian’s championship position, particularly because Russell faces a separate power-unit grid penalty for the main race.

The complete Singapore GP schedule, including qualifying and broadcast information is available in GRANDE PRÊMIO‘s weekend guide. GRANDE PRÊMIO follows the latest Formula 1 news throughout the Singapore GP weekend.