Verstappen conquers Singapore as Antonelli takes third and extends points lead

Charles Leclerc had the getaway to threaten Max Verstappen. He could not take the lead. By holding the Ferrari off into Turn 1, Verstappen secured the position from which he would control his first Singapore Grand Prix victory, while the fight behind him turned on tyre life and one missed pit entry.

Verstappen finished the 62-lap race 7.335 seconds ahead of Leclerc, with Kimi Antonelli third, 24.573 seconds behind. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took fourth and fifth; Lewis Hamilton’s attempt to finish on a single set of soft tyres after his early stop left him sixth.

The lead survives its first test

Saturday had already brought Verstappen a Sprint victory and Grand Prix pole, the latter by just 0.054 seconds over Leclerc. The wet Sprint had been far less orderly: George Russell crashed out after taking the lead, and Norris and Piastri collided on the final lap. The stewards found both McLaren drivers had contributed, with neither predominantly responsible, and took no further action.

On Sunday, Leclerc again made the stronger launch, but Verstappen protected the inside and retained first place. Hamilton held third ahead of Antonelli. Verstappen later said the start had not felt right even before releasing the clutch, and that deployment problems in the opening laps nearly allowed Leclerc through near Turn 7.

The first interruption came after Gabriel Bortoleto completed seven laps. His Audi stopped near the pit-lane exit with an apparent gearbox problem, prompting a virtual safety car. After its recovery, a fire required further attention from marshals. Once racing resumed, Verstappen began stretching the gap: by lap 15, Leclerc was 2.6 seconds behind.

Ferrari had split its starting compounds, putting Leclerc on softs and Hamilton on mediums. The supposedly longer opening stint went to the soft-shod cars instead. Hamilton stopped for softs on lap 18; Antonelli and Leclerc changed to mediums on laps 23 and 24. Verstappen stayed out until lap 32, then changed to mediums without surrendering the lead.

That long first stint gave Verstappen a straightforward route to the finish. Pirelli judged the soft-medium one-stop combination the most competitive strategy, but the next interruption gave his closest pursuers a different opportunity.

One VSC, contrasting consequences

Lance Stroll stopped at Turn 15 with a clutch issue, bringing out the second VSC. Leclerc and Antonelli used it to make second stops on lap 39 and return to soft tyres. Hamilton stayed out and moved into second.

That was not simply Ferrari declining to change his tyres. Hamilton said the team called him in, but he missed the entry; afterwards, he chose to protect track position and try to reach the finish. Fred Vasseur said Ferrari had kept both one-stop and two-stop options open, with limited tyre information and a soft compound that proved stronger than expected relative to the medium.

McLaren’s long opening stints also lost some of their value. Norris had stopped on lap 32 and Piastri on lap 33; the team said their newer tyres had offered a chance to attack before the VSC gave Leclerc and Antonelli less costly stops. Piastri then needed another visit on lap 41 for what McLaren reported as a slow front-right puncture.

Leclerc caught Hamilton on fresher rubber and passed him on lap 46. Verstappen was still 15 seconds ahead. The Ferrari reduced that deficit over the remaining laps, but not enough to put the leader under sustained pressure. Verstappen also reported radio difficulties, yet completed the race with only his original stop.

Behind them, Hamilton’s softs had to cover 44 laps. The price of retaining second place temporarily was a vulnerable final stint.

Antonelli takes the opening

On lap 54, Norris attacked Hamilton at Turn 1 and both ran off the track. Antonelli exploited their battle to pass Norris, then overtook Hamilton at Turn 16 to take third. Norris subsequently took fourth, and Piastri also passed the Ferrari in the closing laps.

The stewards took no further action against Hamilton. They found Norris’s attempted overtake was not legitimate because he too left the track, and that the pair rejoined in the correct order before losing their positions to Antonelli.

Antonelli’s podium came despite braking difficulties. He said stopping power was poor after the VSC and that a sensor problem left Mercedes without brake-temperature data. His response was to lift and coast before braking and reduce the pressure he applied to the pedal.

Russell recovered from 19th to ninth, but his first stop came as the second VSC ended, reducing its benefit. Nico Hülkenberg held him behind to secure eighth, with Liam Lawson seventh. Isack Hadjar salvaged the final point from a pit-lane start after failing to record a qualifying time.

Among finishers who had a numbered starting position, Russell’s ten-place recovery was the largest gain. Arvid Lindblad had the largest loss on the same comparison, falling six places from ninth to 15th.

Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto and Stroll were not classified, having completed seven, 29 and 36 laps respectively. The FIA race report described Colapinto’s trouble as a suspected gearbox problem; Alpine later identified a likely driveline issue. Alex Albon also retired, after 59 laps, but was classified 18th. He said Williams had been managing fuel and brake problems and retired the car to protect it. Valtteri Bottas completed 59 laps and was classified 19th, three laps down.

A podium with championship weight

Ferrari narrowed its constructors’ deficit to Mercedes from 151 points before the Singapore weekend to 134 after the Grand Prix. Red Bull ended the weekend seven points behind McLaren.

Verstappen left Singapore with both race wins from the weekend. Antonelli’s third place, meanwhile, increased his championship advantage over Russell by another 13 points in the Grand Prix. Antonelli now has 340 points to Russell’s 238, a lead of 102, with Hamilton third on 229.