Singapore - Race

After George Russell's phenomenal pole, the scene was set for a race under the starry sky. The Mercedes driver was hungry for a win, but Max Verstappen and the two McLarens behind him wouldn't make the Grand Prix a walk in the park. Did he manage to deliver when it mattered most? 

Only 18 cars lined up on the grid, with Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly opting to start from the pit lane. When it came to the tire options, most of the top 10 decided to begin the race on mediums, with Verstappen being the outlier on the softest available compound. 

Russell had a decent launch and remained the leader, despite Verstappen's best efforts to push him off the pedestal. It seemed like the outside of the track was the better side to be on, as all drivers starting behind the leading Mercedes had a much better start than their counterparts on the inside. Charles Leclerc was quick to get past Lewis Hamilton, and both he and Lando Norris moved by Kimi Antonelli. 

The Brit then went on to challenge his teammate Oscar Piastri. The fight between the two McLarens turned dirty when they made contact not only with each other, but also with Verstappen's Red Bull. No significant damage came from the incident, but it did set a rather unpleasant atmosphere within the British team. In the end, Norris did get past his teammate, securing a podium-scoring position. 

Early into the race, Verstappen began complaining about the state of his car. The problems led to a large gap appearing between him and Russell. With every lap, it only grew larger. It quickly became clear that, instead of focusing on fighting for the lead, Verstappen needed to put his mind to defending against Norris behind him. As the pit window opened, McLaren tried to push the Red Bull driver into pitting early by pretending that they were sending their contender to the pits, but Verstappen didn't fall for their bait and only pitted on lap 20. Norris ended up coming into the pits on lap 26 and didn't move ahead of the Red Bull. 

Piastri was in danger of being undercut by Leclerc, who pitted on lap 22 and was getting closer and closer on his much fresher tires, so he needed a nice and clean stop. It wasn't what he got. In the past weeks, Norris had fallen victim to McLaren's terrible pits, and in Singapore, it was Piastri's turn to feel the frustration. He was stationary for more than five seconds and had to push hard not to be overtaken by the Ferrari. He did manage to keep his track position, but the margins were much closer than he would have liked them to be. 

In the front, Verstappen was slowly but surely creeping up on Russell, and for a while it seemed like the race might see a real battle for the lead. Unfortunately, before the prediction could come to fruition, Verstappen locked up and lost a few precious seconds that he wasn't able to recover. As Russell cruised towards victory, the Dutchman once again became entangled in a fight with the McLaren driving behind him. 

While the fights for the podium-scoring positions were the most entertaining part of the last laps, there was also a lot ot watch out for further down the grid. Hamilton, sitting in a comfortable P7, had a free pit stop due to being over 50 seconds ahead of Liam Lawson behind him, and decided to use it on lap 47 to exchange his mediums for a pair of fresh softs. He was hoping that the strategy would allow him to catch up to Antonelli. 

The gamble seemed to be working, as with every second, he got closer and closer to the Italian. Things became slightly more complicated when Antonelli moved past Leclerc, but Hamilton wasn't slowing down. He soared past his teammate and continued his chase, up until the moment he completely lost his brakes. Just like that, his pace was gone, and he began falling away, first losing his position to Leclerc, and then coming in danger of being overtaken by Alonso, who found himself right behind him, despite his earlier troubles and a terrible, over nine-second-long stop. Hamilton did finish the race ahead of his old rival, but crossed the finish line just 0.4 seconds before him.

Russell had all but won the Grand Prix before it could properly end, so the eyes of everyone turned to Verstappen and Norris fighting for P2. For multiple laps, the Brit seemed to be on the brink of catching up to his rival, but always fell just short of an overtake. In the end, it was the Dutchman who crossed the finish line first. But it wasn't all bad for the McLaren driver. Thanks to him and Piastri finishing in P3 and P4 respectively, the team had secured the spot at the top of the Constructors' Championship, winning it for the second year in a row. The glory of the day was shared between the papaya team and the thrilled George Russell.

Order of the grid:

1. George Russell

2. Max Verstappen

3. Lando Norris

4. Oscar Piastri

5. Kimi Antonelli

6. Charles Leclerc

7. Lewis Hamilton

8. Fernando Alonso

9. Oliver Bearman

10. Carlos Sainz

11. Isack Hadjar

12. Yuki Tsunoda

13. Lance Stroll

14. Alex Albon

15. Liam Lawson

16. Franco Colapinto

17. Gabriel Bortoleto

18. Esteban Ocon

19. Pierre Gasly

20. Nico Hulkenberg