Singapore Grand Prix: Sainz wins as Verstappen and Red Bull streaks end

The dominant Red Bulls were out of the picture and Formula 1 had its most exciting fight for victory this season.

Runaway leader Max Verstappen’s winning streak ended at 10 races and Red Bull’s at 15 – both F1 records – as Carlos Sainz Jr. won the Singapore Grand Prix for Ferrari Sunday.

Red Bull dreamed of winning every race this year, but Verstappen was fifth and Perez eighth after struggling all weekend in Singapore.

It was a four-car fight for victory before George Russell crushed the other Mercedes on the final lap from third to promote Hamilton to the podium.

“I felt in control. I felt like I could handle it well and we took him home. It was the best feeling,” Sainz said after celebrating with his team as fireworks lit up the Singapore circuit.

Sainz admitted after the race that he slowed down to ensure Norris stayed within the one-second window that allowed the McLaren driver to access the DRS straight-line speed boost – a valuable aid in holding the two back Mercedes.

“Carlos was very generous in trying to help me get the DRS. It helped my race and his too,” said Norris, who has placed second in three of the last six races but is yet to win in F1.

“We kept (Mercedes) away, we did everything we needed to do and more,” Norris said as he clipped the wall in the same spot Russell later left.

Mercedes put Russell on course for second before taking a risk with a second stop for both cars in the hope of taking victory on fresher, faster tires. Russell fell back to fourth, ahead of Hamilton, and they both passed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc but could not overtake Norris to regain second place.

“We rolled the dice this weekend,” Hamilton said after a strategy call from Mercedes saw both cars stop late for fresh tires, meaning Russell fell from second place in the pursuit of victory.

Leclerc finished fourth after failing to hold off the Mercedes cars fitted with older tires, ahead of Verstappen in fifth. The champion had an eventful race after starting 11th and was briefly second on track behind Sainz, but only because almost every other car stopped for fresh tires. After Verstappen’s own pit stop, he worked his way through the field from 15th place.

Despite his worst result since November 2022, Verstappen increased his championship lead to 151 points over Perez with seven races remaining. “Everything has to be perfect to win every race in a season, I knew this day would come and that’s totally fine,” he said.

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Pierre Gasly finished sixth for Alpine, Oscar Piastri seventh for McLaren after qualifying 18th and Perez eighth. Rookie Liam Lawson scored his first points in the ninth for AlphaTauri. It was the New Zealander’s third career F1 race since replacing the injured Daniel Ricciardo mid-season, and was the team’s best finish of the season. Kevin Magnussen finished 10th for Haas.

Besides Red Bull, it was also a dismal weekend for Aston Martin as Fernando Alonso finished 15th after a long pit stop and a spin. His teammate Lance Stroll did not participate. The team said Stroll was feeling unwell after a heavy crash in qualifying.