George Russell secured the top spot from the start at the Singapore Grand Prix, while McLaren celebrated clinching another Formula 1 world constructors’ championship triumph.
Russell established an initial advantage over fellow front-row competitor Max Verstappen, creating a solid position to defend against any possible strategic moves, and then sustained it through the race’s second part despite considerable congestion, successfully capitalizing on his starting pole position.
In the meantime, McLaren encountered a slight incident at the commencement, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri making slight contact at the third turn, before ultimately securing third and fourth positions. This proved to be more than adequate in accumulating the points required to wrap up the constructors’ title; the Woking team required 13 points to secure the championship.
Verstappen’s choice to begin on soft tyres could not completely offset the disadvantage of commencing on the less favorable side of the track, and he had to settle in behind Russell into the first corner. However, he soon faced pressure from a rapidly advancing Norris.
Norris slowed down at the third turn to prevent any contact with Verstappen, and inadvertently brushed Piastri’s vehicle as he navigated through the corner exit, successfully improving his position to third place.
Russell, confident in the durability of his medium tyres in the early portions of the race, began to widen his gap over Verstappen, extending his lead by about half a second per lap over his Dutch rival.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Verstappen, grappling with difficulties in downshifting, maintained those soft tyres until the conclusion of the 19th lap, at which point he trailed Russell by almost 10 seconds. Red Bull’s employment of the undercut strategy, combined with Verstappen’s impressive lap times on the hard tyre, meant that upon Russell’s own pit stop for the hard compound, the lead was reduced to under four seconds.
For a brief period, it appeared that Verstappen would exert significant pressure on the Mercedes driver; the gap reduced to approximately 2.7 seconds. However, Verstappen then experienced a lock-up at the fourteenth turn, losing valuable time. Norris, who had previously fallen more than four seconds behind Verstappen, was now once again closely behind the Red Bull.
Russell’s lead began to diminish slightly after the 40-lap mark as the leading trio encountered a substantial amount of traffic. Nevertheless, he managed to navigate the slower cars a bit more effectively than Verstappen, who encountered challenges with rear braking management. This situation created an opportunity for Norris to move within DRS range of the reigning champion, and he followed him through the congestion.
With Verstappen’s focus now primarily on defending against Norris, Russell effectively pulled away, ultimately securing his second grand prix victory of the season.
More to follow
F1 Singapore GP – race results
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– The Autosport.com Team
