Verstappen wins sprint and grand prix in Singapore; Antonelli third and leads championship
Max Verstappen produced a dominant weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay on Sunday, taking pole, winning the final sprint and claiming the grand prix victory to move up to fourth in the drivers' championship.
Kimi Antonelli finished third in the grand prix and remains championship leader, with Antonelli now 102 points clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell; Verstappen is fourth, 119 points behind Antonelli. Verstappen's result was his second consecutive race win and completed a sweep of the Marina Bay weekend after also winning the sprint event.
Verstappen's weekend was described as almost flawless: pole position plus victories in both the sprint and the grand prix, and after George Russell crashed out of the sprint there was little point at which Verstappen appeared likely to lose control of either race. His double success moved him up two places in the standings from sixth to fourth.
Ferrari recorded two podiums across the weekend, taking third in the sprint and second in the grand prix, which the report judged to be the maximum the team could realistically have expected from Singapore. The Ferrari driver was consistently Verstappen's closest challenger through the three sessions.
A Mercedes driver produced what was called a hugely mature weekend: fourth in the sprint, fourth in qualifying and a late climb onto the grand prix podium despite brake concerns and repeated flirtation with track limits. McLaren's weekend was mixed — one McLaren driver managed a solid Sunday and, despite a slow puncture that required an extra stop, chased down and passed Lewis Hamilton for fifth after qualifying seventh, while his team-mate collided with him in the sprint, costing both heavily.
Several midfield performances and recoveries were noted. Racing Bulls' Lawson took fifth in the sprint, started ninth on the grand prix grid and finished seventh on Sunday to score in both races. Audi recorded a useful weekend with seventh in the sprint and eighth in the grand prix, the Audi driver holding Russell behind late in the race. Another driver was fastest in practice, was second in sprint qualifying and made a sensational start to lead the sprint before crashing into the wall at the end of lap one and then recovering from 19th on the grand prix grid to finish ninth.
A number of drivers suffered disappointments and incidents across the weekend: a Red Bull driver had mechanical trouble that ended his sprint and then reliability problems prevented a qualifying time, though he recovered from the pit lane to score a point; one driver qualified eighth but missed points in both races while leading Alpine's challenge; Haas' Bearman scored three sprint points after qualifying P12, his team-mate finished 10th in the sprint and 13th in the grand prix, and a Williams driver who started the sprint from the pit lane qualified 14th and finished 14th. Fernando Alonso qualified 17th and finished 17th after a quiet weekend, while multiple other competitors were involved in sprint collisions, retirements or mechanical failures that left several unable to finish or falling well down the order.
Antonelli's podium and Russell's ninth-place grand prix finish leave the championship picture significantly unchanged at the front: Antonelli extends his lead over Russell to 102 points, and Verstappen's double victory moves him to fourth, 119 points adrift of the leader.