Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in his career on Sunday to complete a perfect weekend where he also finished first in the sprint and was on pole for both races.
Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in his career on Sunday to complete a perfect weekend, having also won the sprint race and secured pole position for both races. Red Bull’s Verstappen finished 7.335 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes finishing third after 62 laps under the lights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The four-time world champion had never won, or even claimed pole position, in nine previous attempts dating back to his debut for Toro Rosso in 2015.
“It has taken a while but I think this race was very good,” said a delighted Verstappen, who was celebrating back-to-back wins after triumphing in Malaysia seven days earlier for his first victory of the 2026 season.
“We had pace when we needed to have it on the soft tyre and the medium. So of course, very happy to win here,” the Dutchman added after claiming the top step of the podium on his 250th Grand Prix start.
“I think the last few races have been really positive for us. We have a lot of motivation in the team to try and deliver even more results.
“Hopefully we can have a bit more fun until the end of the year.”
The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were fourth and fifth, ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who dropped from third on the grid to sixth after botching his tyre strategy.
Liam Lawson’s RB was seventh, Nico Hulkenberg eighth for Audi, and George Russell, who started from the back of the grid due to engine penalties, came home ninth in his Mercedes.
“It was a very tough race out there, but really happy with a podium in the end,” said Antonelli, who increased his championship lead to 102 points over Russell.
Isack Hadjar, in the second Red Bull, started from the pit lane and rounded out the points scorers in 10th.
“We were quite strong at the beginning of the race, then we started degrading,” said Leclerc.
“We did a different strategy to Max, I gave it my all and I don’t regret anything. I don’t think there was much more to do today.”
‘Sorry boys’
Verstappen was put under immediate pressure from the fast-starting Leclerc as he launched from pole position at lights out.
The Dutchman had to move across to his left to cut off the Ferrari driver and stay ahead into Turn 1.
Leclerc stayed close behind Verstappen through the opening laps as his teammate Hamilton kept Antonelli at bay.
Hamilton was the only one of the front-runners to start on the slower medium tyres and was the first to pit, taking on fresh soft rubber on lap 19.
Verstappen stayed out until lap 32 before making his stop, and once all the top six drivers had pitted, the order remained unchanged.
Antonelli and Leclerc pitted for a second time under a Virtual Safety Car period caused by Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin breaking down.
However, Hamilton surprisingly decided to stay out on much older tyres despite being called in by his team, a decision that ultimately cost the seven-time world champion a podium finish.
Source : https://sports.ndtv.com/formula-1/max-verstappen-wins-singapore-grand-prix-for-first-time-12170457
