Russell delivers brilliant drive to win the Singapore GP ahead of Verstappen and McLaren duo

At the Start Russell got off the best, with Max Verstappen being unable to capitalise on his soft tyre start choice.An

Andrea Kimi Antonelli dropped back, with Lando Norris leaping forward from P5 to P3 making his way past the Italian and Oscar Piastri. However, his overtake on his Australian teammate came with contact which prompted an angry reaction from the championship leader.

Positions settled in, until Verstappen pulled the trigger and was the first of the frontrunners to make the switch to hard tyres. His pace was evident as he was able to close the gap to Lewis Hamilton quickly.

With Charles Leclerc and Hamilton making their respective pitstops, McLaren reached out to Norris to ask him if it would be alright for Piastri to pit first, to help the Australian cover off the Monegasque Ferrari driver. The request was quickly shut down by the British McLaren driver.

Norris pit first, Piastri had to wait for another lap. When he came in, though, his McLaren pit crew offered him a slow stop of 5.2 seconds, making Leclerc's potential undercut a real threat. Fortunately for the championship leader, he was able to maintain track position ahead of the Monegasque.

With Russell and Antonelli pitting the order was restored, with Verstappen hunting down the British Mercedes driver. However, issues in the handling of his RB21 forced Verstappen into an error that negated his comeback and put him in the clutches of a hard charging Norris.

On lap 46 of 62 Norris got in the DRS of Verstappen as the Red Bull Racing driver closed in on a group of backmarkers. The fight between the two carried on through the slower cars, with Norris closing the gap further to only half a second.

On lap 53 Norris made his first overtake attempt on the entry into Turn 7. The Briton got the run on the Dutchman, who moved to cover the inside. Feeling courageous with DRS wide open, Norris then attempted to brave it out on the outside, to which Verstappen defended with authority.

Fernando manged to mitigate a 9.2 seconds pit stop, and brought himself back into the points in P8. Lewis Hamilton finished with no brakes, which saw him finish in P7.

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.