Verstappen seals Singapore GP victory as strategy woes cost Hamilton final podium spot
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Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Max Verstappen held off the challenge of Charles Leclerc at the start, before cruising to victory at the Singapore Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver and Kimi Antonelli completing the top three. Here is the full race recap.
How did the start of the Singapore Grand Prix unfold?
Max Verstappen fended off Charles Leclerc, despite the Ferrari driver making the better start at the Singapore Grand Prix. Leclerc ran alongside Verstappen going into Turn 1 but the start/finish straight was not long enough for the Ferrari driver to get a chance to make a dive down the inside of the Red Bull driver.
Leclerc ran close behind Verstappen in the opening laps, until the Dutchman was told to build an advantage over the Ferrari driver, opening up a gap as big as nine seconds. Lewis Hamilton also struggled for pace, albeit, on the medium tyres, as he held up Kimi Antonelli and the two McLarens, and slipped seven seconds behind his teammate.
The seven-time world champion therefore decided to come into the pits earlier than his rivals for softs, a decision that worked out for Hamilton, as by the end of the pit stops, he had a much more comfortable advantage over the cars behind him and was right up behind his teammate Leclerc.
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Hamilton frustrated by lack of team orders at Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated by Ferrari's lack of team orders, as after Leclerc's pitstop, he lost time behind the Monegasque driver.
Hamilton told his team that he lost "two seconds" over the radio on Lap 27, before Leclerc, now on the mediums, set the fastest lap one lap later. Hamilton though then told his race engineer, "I need to use this speed, mate," to which he was told: "We need tyre management in Turns 10 and 18, for tyres and performance."
Hamilton then offered the chance to let Leclerc back past if he can't pull away from the Monegasque driver, however the two cars remained stationary. In fact, Leclerc was able to build a two second advantage before coming into the pits for softs under a virtual safety car after the retirement of Lance Stroll.
Leclerc rapidly closed up on Hamilton on much fresher tyres and made light work of Hamilton as he passed him for second position on Lap 48, although it did look like that the British driver made it easy for his teammate.
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Hamilton then had to worry about the race behind him again, as Lando Norris, now fourth, started rapidly closing up on the Ferrari driver for the final podium spot.
Antonelli beats Norris and Hamilton to third
A fierce battle emerged for the final podium spot in the final laps involving Hamilton, Norris and Antonelli. On Lap 54, Norris tried to pass Hamilton, into Turn One and, while he couldn't make it work, Hamilton still went wide over the run-off area and held third.
But Norris was then overtaken on the exit of the first sequence of corners by Antonelli who took over fourth. Antonelli and Norris were then able to pass Hamilton to move into third and fourth positions, as a decision not to pit Hamilton for the second time backfired on the Ferrari driver.
Hamilton would lose a further place on the penultimate lap, when Piastri, who had dropped back after pitting with a slow puncture, was able to take fifth spot.
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At the front, Leclerc tried to close the gap down to Verstappen, but the Dutchman was managing the lead and crossed the line to take his second consecutive victory, finishing 7.3 seconds ahead of the Monegasque driver.
Antonelli completed the podium spots ahead of Norris, Piastri and Hamilton with Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, George Russell and Isack Hadjar completing the points positions.
Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto and Lance Stroll all retired from the race.
Singapore Grand Prix final results
Singapore Grand Prix (Singapore) Results
Race
Race
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Red Bull RacingRBR | - | 1:37.840 | |
2 | FerrariFER | - | 1:37.660 | |
3 | MercedesMER | - | 1:37.846 | |
4 | McLarenMCL | - | 1:42.030 | |
5 | McLarenMCL | - | 1:37.799 | |
6 | FerrariFER | - | 1:40.601 | |
7 | Racing BullsRCB | - | 1:37.853 | |
8 | AudiAUD | - | 1:37.671 | |
9 | MercedesMER | - | 1:37.934 | |
10 | Red Bull RacingRBR | - | 1:40.757 | |
11 | AlpineALP | - | 1:38.967 | |
12 | HaasHAA | - | 1:38.494 | |
13 | HaasHAA | - | 1:40.836 | |
14 | WilliamsWIL | - | 1:39.526 | |
15 | Racing BullsRCB | - | 1:39.814 | |
16 | Aston MartinAST | - | 1:41.614 | |
17 | CadillacCAD | - | 1:39.135 | |
18 | WilliamsWIL | - | 1:37.985 | |
19 | CadillacCAD | - | 1:41.596 | |
20 | Aston MartinAST | - | 1:42.216 | |
21 | AlpineALP | - | 1:40.312 | |
22 | AudiAUD | - | 1:45.080 |
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