Verstappen Dominates 2026 Singapore GP

(Image credit: Joe Portlock/Getty Images)

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated the 2026 Singapore Grand Prix for his third overall win of the season.

On his 250th start in F1, Verstappen led from lights to flag to record a comfortable victory from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who executed a two-stop strategy to clear Lewis Hamilton for second on lap 46.

Hamilton eventually finished sixth behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Norris after the Italian initially cleared Norris then him on lap 55 to finish third, before Oscar Piastri cleared the Ferrari driver on the penultimate lap to finish fifth.

Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, George Russell and Isack Hadjar rounded out the top ten.

In the drivers’ standings, Antonelli extended his title lead over Russell to 102 points and has a mathematical chance to wrap up the title in Austin, Texas, USA, on 25 October.

Hamilton meanwhile sit nine points behind Russell in third in the standings whilst Verstappen’s win propelled him up to fourth and just 17 points off Russell.

At lights out, Verstappen fought off Leclerc for the lead after the latter got a better launch off the line by just 0.004 seconds, whilst Hamilton edged out Antonelli to keep third as the top six held position.

Gasly meanwhile slipped from seventh to ninth behind Lawson and Hulkenberg whilst Sainz leapt from 13th to tenth ahead of Esteban Ocon who passed his Haas teammate – Bearman, with the Haas pair subsequently swapping positions on lap three.

Bearman then cleared Sainz for tenth on lap five whilst up front, Verstappen steadily built a lead over Leclerc even despite a virtual safety car (VSC) after Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto suffered a gearbox failure at the end of lap seven.

Up front, Hamilton surprisingly was the first driver to pit on lap 19 to switch from the medium to soft tyres after the latter tyre compound proved to be the better tyre in terms of pace and tyre degradation, but rejoined behind Lawson and cleared him a lap later for sixth.

Antonelli meanwhile was the first lead soft-tyre runner to pit on lap 24 and was unable to undercut Hamilton, whilst Leclerc pitted a lap later to successfully cover off Hamilton for net second place.

Verstappen subsequently made his sole stop on lap 32 alongside Norris and rejoined in the lead, whilst the reigning champion slipped to sixth before Piastri pitted a lap later to restore the top six to their original order.

Russell meanwhile stayed out on the alternative strategy after he started on the medium tyres and lucked into a VSC on lap 39 after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll suffered a clutch failure at Turn 14, yet the VSC unfortunately ended as he reached the pit lane and rejoined in tenth on the soft tyres.

Leclerc meanwhile pitted under the VSC to return to the soft tyres which dropped him to second behind Hamilton, whilst Antonelli too pitted for the soft tyres and rejoined in fifth behind Norris.

Piastri meanwhile pitted on lap 42 from sixth with a slow right-rear puncture and rejoined in sixth position.

On his fresh soft tyres, Leclerc was able to reel Hamilton in and passed the seven-time champion into turn seven on lap 46 to reclaim second.

Leclerc subsequently attempted to reel in the one-stopping Verstappen but ultimately couldn’t catch the Dutchman who recorded his third straight victory – and first in Singapore, having in the past week won the Bahrain GP in Malaysia then Singapore Sprint.

Ferrari’s hesitation cost Hamilton a podium as he was left out on worn tyres and Antonelli was able to clear Norris then Hamilton on lap 55 to leap from fifth to third, whilst Norris then cleared his British compatriot into turn 10 on lap 56 to finish fourth.

Hamilton eventually couldn’t keep Piastri at bay as the Aussie passed him into turn 16 to snatch fifth on the penultimate lap.

F1 now heads across to the Americas for a triple header beginning with the US GP in Austin, Texas on the weekend of 23-25 October, followed by a trip to Mexico between 30 October to 1 November before that run concludes in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on the weekend of 6-8 November.

Position Driver Team Laps Time
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 62 62 Laps
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 62 + 7.335
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 62 + 24.573
4 Lando Norris McLaren 62 + 40.506
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren 62 + 49.644
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 62 + 53.188
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 62 + 81.666
8 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 62 + 83.386
9 George Russell Mercedes 62 + 84.677
10 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 62 + 90.862
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine 61 + 1 Lap
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 61 + 1 Lap
13 Esteban Ocon Haas 61 + 1 Lap
14 Carlos Sainz Williams 61 + 1 Lap
15 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 61 + 1 Lap
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 61 + 1 Lap
17 Alex Albon Williams 61 + 1 Lap
18 Sergio Perez Cadillac 61 + 1 Lap
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 61 + 1 Lap
RET Lance Stroll Aston Martin 37 Clutch
RET Franco Colapinto Alpine 29 Sensor
RET Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 7 Gearbox

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