Race report
Max Verstappen led every lap at Marina Bay as Ferrari's split strategy left Hamilton stranded on worn softs, while third place stretched Kimi Antonelli's championship lead to 102 points.
Max Verstappen completed a Singapore weekend sweep on 11 October 2026, adding victory in the 62-lap Grand Prix to his win in Saturday's rain-hit Sprint. Starting from pole on his 250th Grand Prix start, the Red Bull driver led every lap at Marina Bay to claim the 73rd win of his career and his first at a circuit that had long resisted him. Charles Leclerc finished 7.335 seconds behind in second for Ferrari, while Kimi Antonelli took third and used the afternoon to stretch his championship advantage over Mercedes team mate George Russell. The grid had already been reshaped before the start. Russell dropped to 19th after taking additional power unit elements, Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso started from the pit lane following power unit changes and parc fermé modifications, and Lance Stroll joined them after changes to his Aston Martin. Antonelli also reported a brake problem on the way to the grid, although it appeared to have been resolved before the lights went out.
The tyre choices were evenly split between softs and mediums, and Verstappen started on the softer compound from pole while Lewis Hamilton chose mediums from third. Leclerc made a strong getaway from second and attacked into Turn 1, but Verstappen held the inside line and kept the lead. Behind them, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri avoided any repeat of their Sprint collision, with Norris settling in behind Antonelli. Liam Lawson moved up to seventh by passing Pierre Gasly, Nico Hülkenberg gained places through Turn 2 to run eighth, and Oliver Bearman won an early Haas battle with Esteban Ocon. Russell made steady progress from the back and was 15th by the fifth lap. Leclerc closed to within six tenths of the leader on lap six, but Verstappen responded immediately and the gap grew again on the following lap. The first neutralisation came on lap seven, when Gabriel Bortoleto stopped his Audi with what the team suspected was a gearbox problem. The car later caught fire during recovery, and the pit lane entry was briefly closed while marshals dealt with it. Carlos Sainz also drew complaints from Arvid Lindblad after leaving the track to gain an advantage, although the stewards took no further action.
Ferrari split its strategies in an attempt to put pressure on the leader. Hamilton was the first of the front-runners to stop, switching to softs after 18 laps, and he passed Lawson for sixth on lap 21 as he worked back through the field. Antonelli pitted for mediums after 23 laps and Leclerc followed a lap later. Verstappen extended his first stint and made a clean switch from softs to mediums after 32 laps, rejoining without losing the lead. Norris stopped on the same lap, while Piastri lost time with a slow stop on the next lap and returned six seconds behind his team mate. Gasly stopped after 29 laps but then struggled badly for rear grip on his new set, and Hülkenberg rejoined in the points after his own stop. Russell was the only driver inside the top ten who had not yet pitted after 33 laps. The decisive phase began when Stroll stopped at Turn 15 with a suspected clutch problem, bringing out a second Virtual Safety Car. Leclerc and Antonelli both took the opportunity to make second stops at reduced cost, but Hamilton stayed out on the softs he had fitted on lap 18. Russell committed to his first stop just as the Virtual Safety Car was ending, which limited his gain, and he rejoined in tenth. Piastri then needed an unplanned second stop after a slow puncture.
The consequences of Hamilton's one-stop plan became clear over the final third of the race. Leclerc caught his team mate on fresher tyres and passed him on lap 46, completing a Ferrari order that left Leclerc as the only realistic threat to Verstappen. Norris then attempted a move on Hamilton at Turn 1 but ran wide, allowing Antonelli to pass the McLaren before also getting by Hamilton into Turn 16 for third. Hamilton was investigated for leaving the track during that battle, but no further action was taken. Norris recovered to take fourth when Hamilton ran wide while defending, and Piastri passed the Ferrari into Turn 16 for fifth after Norris was asked to help his team mate. Hamilton finished sixth and apologised over the radio, saying the decision not to make a second stop had been his. Team principal Fred Vasseur later said the call had been clear on the radio. Antonelli's afternoon was also not straightforward, as he received repeated warnings and a black and white flag for exceeding track limits at Turn 2, although he avoided a penalty. At the front, Verstappen managed the gap on mediums and crossed the line 7.335 seconds clear, with Antonelli 24.573 seconds behind the winner.
The midfield result was shaped by track position and first-stint tyre choices. Lawson took seventh for Racing Bulls after his strong opening laps on softs and a medium second stint that kept Hülkenberg behind. Hülkenberg finished eighth, Audi's best Grand Prix result so far, and held off Russell in the closing laps. Russell had passed Ocon for eleventh on lap 21 and Gasly for ninth into Turn 7 on lap 48, but finished ninth after the Virtual Safety Car timing worked against his long first stint. Hadjar recovered from the pit lane to take the final point for Red Bull. Gasly finished eleventh, extending Alpine's run to three races without points, while Franco Colapinto retired after 29 laps with a suspected driveline problem. Bearman, Ocon, Sainz, Lindblad and Alonso filled 12th to 16th, all one lap down, Sergio Pérez finished 17th, and Alex Albon was classified 18th despite retiring in the closing stages. Valtteri Bottas finished 19th, three laps down.
The weekend carried clear championship consequences. Antonelli's 20 points from the Sprint and Grand Prix lifted him to 340, while Russell's crash in the Sprint and grid penalty left him with only two points and a 102-point deficit. Hamilton stood on 229 points, Verstappen reached 221 after collecting 33 points over the weekend, and Leclerc was close behind on 215. Mercedes kept a large lead in the constructors' standings over Ferrari, 578 points to 444. The next round is the United States Grand Prix, from 23 to 25 October.