Key events
It looks like Lewis Hamilton was given a five-second penalty after running around for the final couple of laps of that race without working brakes. Fernando Alonso was apparently fuming at officials afterwards about it.
George Russell is delighted as he conducts his post-race interview, but he’s having to sit down as sweat pours down his brow. Clearly he’s shattered!
Russell: “If I sat down and made a list at the start of the season of the races I thought we could win, this [Singapore] would be right at the bottom. So we’ll celebrate this and we won’t worry about Austin yet.”
Norris is in reflective mood: “I feel like I did everything I did today and I’m happy with third.”
How they finished in the Singapore Grand Prix
Here’s the top 10, the points scorers.
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Russell
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Verstappen
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Norris
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Piastri
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Antonelli
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Leclerc
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Hamilton
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Alonso
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Bearman
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Sainz
They’re just finalising the race standings. Before that, Zak Brown and Andrea Stella are chatting about McLaren’s constructors’ championship victory.
“Unbelievable team here and back at the factory, they’ve done an incredible job,” says Brown.
Stella says: “We are working very hard to continue this streak of wins into the future, with these big changes of technical regulations.”
Now the big question: how do McLaren manage the rivalry for the individual title?
“They’ve driven brilliantly all season. We’re letting them race, as you can see. We’re letting them race. They race hard, they race clean, they race to win.”
McLaren win the Constructors’ championship
An absolute cakewalk for McLaren.
The world championship title fight between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will unfold in the coming weeks, but their team can bask in this success for now.
Fireworks go off into the Singapore night sky. Quite a sight.
George Russell wins the Singapore Grand Prix
The Mercedes man led from the front after a brilliant pole position yesterday and he’s not put a foot wrong in claiming race victory. A great day for the British driver and his team, well deserved.
Max Verstappen holds off Lando Norris for second. Norris is third.
The full race standings will follow.
Final lap! Let’s see how this one unfolds…
Lap 60/62: Hamilton has jumped beyond Leclerc into P6 and might fancy a fifth place finish now as he chases down Antonelli.
Norris is running out of time to overtake Verstappen. He may need these points, he’s got to push hard.
Lap 58/62: You have to give Verstappen some credit here. He’s a master at defending his track position and continues to frustrate Norris. Behind these two, it doesn’t look likely that Piastri will push Norris for a podium spot.
Lap 56/62: We’re getting to the business end of this race now. Russell seems home and hosed in first place but there’s plenty to battle for behind him.
Can Norris have another pop at Verstappen now?
I’ve barely mentioned Lewis Hamilton today. He’s been p7 for most of this race, but could yet finish ahead of his teammate Leclerc, who is sixth.
Lap 54/62: OK, maybe he’s not marooned. He’s found some pace, now around three seconds shy of Norris. Will he have time to close in on his teammate?
Less than 10 laps to go.
Norris still cannot wriggle past Verstappen. Piastri is marooned in fourth.
Lap 52/62: Verstappen, under the pump from Norris, is doing a fine job at holding off the McLaren. For how much longer he can sustain this defence, I’m not sure.
Lap 51/62: It might be an odd atmosphere in the McLaren camp after this race. They’re set to seal the constructors’ championship – they were never going to not win it this year, but Piastri and Norris aren’t the best of friends. Specifically, Piastri has been extremely peeved with Norris’ early move on him tonight.
An email from Peter Lee: “Am I the only one that thinks George looks like a 1920’s silent movie actor – specifically Welsh heart-throb Ivor Novello?”
It’s a great shout Peter. Will he be celebrating Great Gatsby style this evening?
Lap 49/62: This is where Singapore’s reputation as a physically-demanding race comes into play. The drivers will be feeling the heat at this point.
Norris and Verstappen are now zipping past the back markers with the help of those blue flags.
Lap 48/62: There’s a lot of traffic for the frontrunners to negotiate now. Russell has made his way through a few of them.
That Norris v Verstappen battle seems only a matter of a couple of laps away. The Red Bull is losing pace just as the McLaren is maintaining it.
Lap 45/62: Hulkenberg has thudded into a spin but thankfully seems OK and continues, although he’s gone last.
Norris is chucking absolutely everything at this race, throwing the car around the corners, going full throttle pretty much all the time. He leads Piastri by six seconds.
Lap 44/62: There are plenty of skirmishes towards the back of the field. Everyone between P8 and P19 is within a couple of seconds of each other. There’s less action, as it stands, towards the front.
Lap 41/62: Drivers are in danger of being lapped, which could cause a few issues. Lance Stroll is now dead last so could start getting in the way of Russell. Almost blue flag time.
“Verstappen is struggling in clean air,” Norris is told on the radio as McLaren urge him to put pressure on the Dutchman.
I would be surprised if Verstappen remains second in this race.
Lap 40/62: Verstappen continues to rant and rave on the Red Bull radio. He’s clearly really unhappy with the car.
It’s going to be a one-stop policy from almost everyone, given they’re on hard tyres.
Stroll finally pits, which allows Ollie Bearman into the points. The young Brit in his maiden F1 season will surely accrue more points this evening.
Lap 38/62: Norris finds himself less than two seconds behind Verstappen. Piastri is more than eight seconds behind Norris, and really doesn’t want to see his teammate gain any more positions.
In the battle for the points, Lawson (P8) and Stroll (P9) haven’t pitted so there’s another bunching effect going on. Sainz is 10th but behind him, Bearman, Albon and Alonso are gunning for position.
Alonso is P14 and looking to get past Hadjar.
Lap 35/62: Things are definitely bunching up, with Verstappen quicker than Norris and the cars in third to sixth looking quicker than Verstappen.
Lap 34/62: Russell’s lead to Verstappen at the front is ebbing away, now less than two seconds. The Red Bull man has conjured some speed from somewhere.
Russell has been fairly untroubled today so far, but there’s lots of work ahead for him to claim a rare Grand Prix victory.
Piastri hasn’t been a happy bunny throughout this race but as things stand there wouldn’t be any major damage done to his championship lead, with Norris just a place in front of him. He must stay close to his teammate and hope Norris doesn’t win the race.
Lap 31/62: Here’s a reminder of how things stand going into the second half of the Singapore GP:
1. Russsell; 2. Verstappen; 3. Norris; 4. Piastri; 5. Leclerc; 6. Antonelli; 7. Hamilton; 8. Lawson; 9.Stroll; 10. Sainz.
With almost half the race done all the leaders have now pitted once.
“If you speak to me every lap I will disconnect the radio,” says a rather grumpy Fernando Alonso on the Aston Martin radio. Not feeling sociable then, Fernando?
Lap 28/62: Oh no Piastri has had real issues in the pit lane, a big delay, which you suspect he won’t be very happy about. He’s not lost track position, in the sense that he’s back out in P4 in front of Leclerc. But the gap to Norris remains pretty big.
“Mate what the hell is wrong with this engine? Again?” – Isack Hadjar on the Racing Bulls’ team radio.
Lap 27/62: So McLaren finally make the decision and it’s to bring Norris into the pit lane, after the Brit had refused to allow Piastri in there first. Some serious politicking going on from the orange team right now. A repeat of Monza is clearly in everyone’s thoughts.
Russell pits. It’s a pretty swift stop time, so well done Mercedes. Antonelli has quickly followed him in.
Norris is now the race leader.
