Max Verstappen followed up his victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia by winning Saturday’s Sprint around the street of Singapore – mastering 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 sectory merely damp, the action got under way around half an hour later than planned, with all drivers running the intermediate tyres.
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.
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 Ferrari’s and McLaren’s behind.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Leclerc, P4: Antonelli, P5: Lawson, P6: Bearman, P7: Hulkenberg, P8: Norris, P9: Gasly and P10: Ocon.
What a result for Verstappen! An excellent way to start the weekend for the Dutchman! Fresh of the back of his win the weekend before, he will be glad seeing the points come in after a tough start to the season.
A double sprint podium for the Ferrari duo! A great result for them both, with Hamilton having had a flying start.
A decent result for Antonelli in 4th! Shame he couldn’t get the Ferrari’s but he kept out of trouble and scored points for his all important championship battle.
As for his teammate, it seemed an excellent start for George getting the jump on Verstappen, but it all went horribly wrong. A shame as it would’ve been an interesting race!
Points for Lawson in 5th, gaining additional places due to others downfall.
Bearman, Hulkenberg and Norris round out the points scoring position.
The last lap was a nightmare for the McLaren duo, as Norris went for a ‘move’ which wasn’t there on Piastri and it ended up with them both spinning and Piastri out. They were both running in decent points position which would’ve meant a lot to the team.
A LOT of drivers didn’t finish the Sprint Race.
Stroll, Perez, Russell, Colapinto, Hadjar, Bottas, Bortoleto, Albon and Piastri…
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