Verstappen wins rain-hit Singapore Sprint after Russell's early crash and McLaren collision

Verstappen wins wet and chaotic Singapore Sprint

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won a chaotic Formula 1 Sprint at the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday (October 10), taking the chequered flag ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Reuters reported, in coverage carried by CNA, that nine cars retired from the race, a record for sprint races, with the start delayed by more than 30 minutes due to heavy rain. ²³

According to AsiaOne, Verstappen finished 2.5 seconds clear of Hamilton, with Leclerc a distant third, 16.8 seconds behind the winner. It was the Dutchman's first victory at Marina Bay, a circuit where he had never won the grand prix, and came a week after he gave Red Bull their first grand prix win of the season in Malaysia. GPblog noted it was also his first Sprint win of the season and the final Sprint of the 2026 campaign. ⁹¹⁰

The race was the first Formula 1 Sprint to be held in Singapore, Reuters reported via CNA. PlanetF1 said it was round 17 of the 2026 season at the Marina Bay street circuit. ²⁶

Rain delays the start and cuts the race to 20 laps

The start was pushed back 30 minutes after heavy rain hit shortly before the scheduled 5pm start. AsiaOne and PlanetF1 both reported that the FIA announced the delay due to a large amount of standing water around Turns 2 and 3, while the BBC noted the second sector of the circuit stayed dry. The race eventually began at 5.35pm, per AsiaOne. ⁹¹³

Once the rain abated, the field completed two laps behind a safety car to check conditions before racing began with a standing start, the BBC reported. Because two formation laps were run instead of one, the Sprint was reduced from the scheduled 21 laps to 20, PlanetF1 and Dive-bomb each explained. ³¹¹¹

Rain began falling heavily only about 15 minutes before the race was due to begin, Dive-bomb reported, and Lando Norris told his team the spray on the formation laps was "very bad", according to PlanetF1. ¹¹¹

Russell's opening-lap crash hands Verstappen the lead

Mercedes' George Russell, starting second, made a strong launch and beat polesitter Verstappen into the first corner, a start Formula 1's own video coverage described as superb. Hamilton also jumped up from sixth on the grid to third, ahead of Leclerc. ⁷³⁵

Russell's lead lasted barely a lap. Having gone slightly wide exiting the final corner at the end of the first lap, he lost control of his Mercedes, which spun across the track into the inside wall before bouncing back to the outside, with the rest of the field avoiding him, the BBC reported. The incident brought out a safety car, and Formula 1's video coverage confirmed the crash occurred at the final corner of the very first lap. ³⁸

Russell was candid about his error. "I just misjudged it, got more power than I was expecting from the battery, got a little wider than I expected and touched the white line. Rule number one in the wet is don't touch the white line. Very silly mistake," he said, as quoted by the BBC. AsiaOne carried similar quotes, in which Russell called it a "miscalculation" with more battery deployment than expected and "silly mistake, big consequences". ³⁹

That left Verstappen in front, and after the restart he held off Hamilton's early pressure before easing away. AsiaOne reported Hamilton stayed within 1.3 seconds until half-distance, but as the track dried and nobody gambled on slick tyres, the Red Bull pulled almost five seconds clear before managing the gap to the flag. ⁹³

Record retirements pile up behind the safety car

The retirement list grew quickly. Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez collided as they battled for position, with both out of the race, PlanetF1 reported. Isack Hadjar reported a problem with his engine braking dying and was told to stop his car, while Franco Colapinto stopped at Turn 14 in his Alpine, according to PlanetF1's lap-by-lap account. Arvid Lindblad spun during the safety car period and was noted for driving the wrong way along the track to find room to turn around, PlanetF1 and Dive-bomb both reported. ¹¹¹

After the restart on lap 6, Gabriel Bortoleto collided with Alex Albon, with Bortoleto the seventh retirement and the incident set to be investigated, Dive-bomb reported. Williams later called Albon into the pits on lap 15 to retire his damaged car, making him the eighth retirement, per PlanetF1 and Dive-bomb. Valtteri Bottas also retired, according to PlanetF1's results list. ¹¹¹⁶

In total nine drivers failed to finish, PlanetF1's full results listing Russell, Piastri, Stroll, Perez, Hadjar, Colapinto, Bottas, Bortoleto and Albon as the retirements, with only 13 cars reaching the chequered flag, as GPblog noted. ⁶⁴

McLaren collision on the final lap promotes Antonelli

The final twist came on the last lap, when Norris attempted to pass McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at Turn 5 as they fought over fourth place. The BBC reported that Piastri defended robustly, the cars touched and spun in unison, with Piastri hitting the barriers and out on the spot while Norris continued, dropping to eighth behind Liam Lawson, Oliver Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg. ³

PlanetF1 reported the stewards would investigate the Norris-Piastri incident after the race. GPblog separately reported that Hamilton, who had been noted for a yellow-flag infringement during the race, was cleared by the stewards after initially being noted. Dive-bomb also reported that the Bortoleto-Albon collision was noted for investigation. ¹¹⁰¹¹

The collision promoted Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli to fourth place, extending the Italian's championship lead over Russell from 84 points to 89, AsiaOne and the BBC both reported, with Russell scoring nothing after his retirement. ⁹³

Antonelli had struggled early on after the restart, with Dive-bomb reporting he was unable to keep pace with the McLarens initially, and Leclerc had complained his intermediate tyres were "destroyed" with three laps to go, per Dive-bomb, which meant the four cars ran close together heading into the final-lap drama. ¹¹

Full Sprint classification and what follows

The finishing order was Verstappen (Red Bull), Hamilton (Ferrari) +2.591s, Leclerc (Ferrari) +16.871s, Antonelli (Mercedes) +17.238s, Lawson (Racing Bulls) +20.632s, Bearman (Haas) +24.321s, Hulkenberg (Audi) +27.525s and Norris (McLaren) +28.272s, according to GPblog's and PlanetF1's results listings, which matched each other's gap figures. ⁴⁶

Further back, Pierre Gasly was ninth for Alpine and Esteban Ocon tenth for Haas, with Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and Lindblad completing the classified finishers in 11th, 12th and 13th, PlanetF1 reported. PlanetF1's classified results list placed Piastri 14th, a lap down, and did not present the listing as an official final classification. ⁶

Russell, who won at Marina Bay in 2025, leaves the Sprint with no points and a damaged car, and will start Sunday's grand prix from the back of the grid after a power unit penalty, AsiaOne reported. The delayed Sprint finish also pushed grand prix qualifying back 30 minutes, with the BBC reporting a revised 14:30 BST start and Crash.net noting qualifying had originally been due to start at 14:00 UK time. ⁹³⁵