Max Verstappen won a rain-affected Singapore Grand Prix Sprint after George Russell dramatically crashed out from the lead.
After a 30-minute delay for torrential rain, Russell took the lead from pole-sitter Verstappen off the line but lost control of his Mercedes at the end of the first lap and slammed into the barriers.
The crash felt like the final straw in a torrid week for Russell after he retired with a power unit failure from last week’s Grand Prix in Malaysia and will start at the back of the grid for Sunday’s race in Singapore as a result of taking on a new power unit.
Russell is now 89 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who took no risks in the Sprint but benefitted from his Mercedes team-mate’s crash and a last lap collision between McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Norris went for a move up the inside of his team-mate at Turn 5 in the battle for fourth but caught the rear wheel of Piastri, sending his team-mate into the barriers.
“I apologised to them that one of the cars is out but, like I said, the rest of it we’ll go review,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri make contact during the last lap of the Sprint at the Singapore Grand Prix
Amidst the chaos, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson claimed an impressive fifth with Haas’ Oliver Bearman in sixth after he overtook Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg in one of the few top 10 overtakes on the Safety Car restart.
Norris limped around on the last lap following his clash with Piastri to take the final points-paying position in eighth as Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly just missed out on the points.
At the front, Verstappen controlled the Sprint following Russell’s crash with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton following home in second and Charles Leclerc hanging onto third despite tyre troubles.
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George Russell crashes out shortly after taking the lead at the Singapore Grand Prix
Nine drivers retired from the Sprint after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Cadillac’s Sergio Perez collided on the opening lap just before Russell’s crash.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto stopped with reliability issues during the early Safety Car while Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Alex Albon and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto ran into each other on the restart, then Piastri went out on the last lap.
Wild start before Verstappen cruises to wet win
In scenes reminiscent of last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, torrential rain fell as the cars made their way from the pit lane to the starting grid which led to a delay.
But, half of the track was barely wet and it was only the first part of the lap where puddles formed at the apex of the corners.
When the Sprint got going 30 minutes later than scheduled, Verstappen had another poor launch off the line which Russell took advantage of while Hamilton stormed from sixth to third by overtaking Norris, Piastri and Leclerc on the run down to Turn 1.
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Watch the start of the Sprint at the Singapore Grand Prix
With overtaking notoriously difficult around the tight confines of Singapore, it looked like Russell was in the perfect position to claim a third Sprint win of the season.
However, he pushed too hard through the last corner on the opening lap, caught the white line and went veering into the pit wall, somehow avoiding another car as he came back across the racing line.
Russell told Sky Sports F1: “A miscalculation. I came through the corner, had more battery deployment than I thought, pushed me a bit wider than I hoped and I went on the white line. Silly mistake, big consequences. A shame.”
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George Russell reacts to crashing out of the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint
That proved to be the key moment of the Sprint as Hamilton tried his best to put Verstappen under pressure but it always felt like the Red Bull driver had everything under control.
Verstappen has never taken a Grand Prix pole or win in Singapore and is hoping to change that in the next 24 hours, but raised concerns about Red Bull’s starts.
“The start was horrendous again, so that’s definitely something that we need to improve on because if you have something like that tomorrow, that’s your race over, if nothing crazy happens,” he said.
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Max Verstappen takes the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint
“Not ideal, but we got a bit lucky with what happened with George out of the last corner. And after that, you just want to keep it calm and under control, because you know that you can’t pass around here, especially around here in these conditions with the intermediate.
“I’m happy to win here in the Sprint, but I also know that I want to win tomorrow, not today.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Singapore GP Sprint weekend schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Singapore Grand Prix
Saturday October 10
1pm: Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying build-up
2.30pm: SINGAPORE GP QUALIFYING*
4pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday October 11
11.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Singapore GP build-up
1pm: THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
3pm: Chequered Flag: Singapore GP reaction
4pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Singapore for the last Sprint weekend of the season with Sunday’s Grand Prix at 1pm (build-up from 11.30am) live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime