Max Verstappen claimed his first Singapore Grand Prix victory, filling a gap in his race-win record that had previously remained open. The result came as part of a weekend in which he took pole position in both races, won the sprint, and claimed victory in the grand prix without a single setback.
Across 62 laps under the floodlights of Marina Bay Street Circuit, Verstappen's Red Bull crossed the line 7.335 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli completing the podium for Mercedes in third — a result that extended Verstappen's championship advantage further ahead.
Verstappen, who had gone through nine starts — stretching back to his Toro Rosso debut in 2015 — without a pole position or a race win at the circuit, noted after claiming back-to-back victories, the first of which came in Malaysia the previous weekend, that the car had delivered the tyre performance required across both the soft and medium compounds when the race demanded it. Expressing satisfaction at the victory on his 250th grand prix start, Verstappen noted that the team had carried strong momentum through the preceding races and that collective determination to build on those results remained high within the squad.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ran as McLaren's fourth and fifth-placed finishers respectively, followed by Lewis Hamilton, whose Ferrari fell back to sixth after a tyre strategy call cost him the third-place grid position he had started from. Liam Lawson's RB crossed the line seventh, Nico Hulkenberg brought his Audi home in eighth, and George Russell — who had dropped to the back of the grid after collecting engine penalties — recovered to take ninth in the Mercedes.
Antonelli, reflecting on a podium finish in what he described as a demanding race, extended his points advantage at the top of the championship to 102 ahead of Russell. Isack Hadjar, driving the second Red Bull after starting from the pit lane, took the final points position in tenth.
Leclerc noted that his car had performed well early on before tyre degradation set in, adding that he had followed a different tactical approach from Verstappen and had no regrets about how he had driven.
Verstappen held pole position at the start, though Leclerc moved onto his tail from the opening moment of the race, with the championship leader noting afterwards that little else could have been extracted from the day. Moving across to his left, Verstappen blocked Leclerc's path and held his position into turn one.
Of the leading contenders, Hamilton alone had opted for the medium compound at the start, a tyre choice that brought him to the pit lane earlier than the rest, with a fresh set of softs fitted on lap 19. By lap 32, Verstappen had made his pit stop, and once the remaining top-six runners had also cycled through theirs, the running order matched what it had been when the race got underway.
Both Antonelli and Leclerc brought their cars in for a second pit stop during a virtual safety car period triggered by the retirement of Lance Stroll's Aston Martin. Opting to remain on worn tyres rather than follow the team's instruction to pit, Hamilton ultimately lost the podium place his race had put within reach. On fresh tyres, Leclerc moved past Hamilton to take second place.
On lap 55, as Norris pushed to pass Hamilton, Antonelli seized the opening created by their battle and slipped through to take the position, before going on to overtake the Ferrari and climb to third — a sequence Antonelli described as one he had been able to exploit by taking advantage of the contest between the two drivers ahead. On the following lap, Norris worked past Hamilton — whose tyres had given up — with Piastri moving through shortly after, prompting Hamilton to radio: "Sorry boys."
On team radio, Hamilton took responsibility for the tactical decision, telling his team the strategy had been his choice and that it had cost them points. Hamilton also expressed a commitment to performing better in the following race.