Fraser MasefieldGeorge Russell produced a superb lights to flag victory to win the Singapore Grand Prix and net his fifth F1 win as Max Verstappen held off a charging Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
It meant, inevitably, that McLaren sealed a tenth constructors’ title and that Englishman Norris took another small chunk out of his teammate’s title lead.
Kimi Antonelli furthered the Mercedes cause by finishing fifth ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton as Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten.
Piastri still leads the championship by a diminishing 18 points with five races to go, so there are still three drivers, including Verstappen, with a shot at title glory.
The moment @GeorgeRussell63 had been dreaming of in Singapore! 👏🙌#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/2Kagr1Nmxf
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 5, 2025
“It feels great. Especially after what happened a couple of years ago, it felt like a bit of a missed opportunity, but we more than made up for it today,” a jubilant Russell told Sky Sports afterward.
“So grateful for the whole team, they did an amazing job all weekend. We don’t really know where this performance came from but really, really happy. Friday was a really tough day for me for many different reasons, and I wasn’t feeling comfortable. But by the time we got to Q3 I felt really great in the car, and that’s when it matters.
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning when I saw Max on the softs, but that first stint was great from us and we extended the gap.”
For Verstappen, who has still bizarrely never won in Singapore, second place still represented a fine result having struggled with the balance of his Red Bull.
“The track only just got dry and starting on the dirty side of the grid we had to try something different as normally if you are in the lead you just stay there,” commented Verstappen. “So we tried, it didn’t really work out, so the first stint was really about surviving on the tyres and trying to make it long enough to pit for the hard tyre.
“I think that worked out but unfortunately the race was quite difficult, more difficult than I hoped for, for a lot of reasons. There are a few reasons we need to understand why these things went wrong today. But around here, even if you have more pace, you can’t pass without anything crazy happening, so I think second was the maximum result.”
This is what winning the Constructors’ Championship means 🧡#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/VDUXrl45lx
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 5, 2025
THE TALE OF THE RACE
A typically seasonal Singapore shower a couple of hours before the race led to a little head scratching for teams on the pit wall. And despite the track not totally dry before lights out, the entire grid decided on slicks.
Only three drivers in the top ten were brave enough to bolt on the red banded soft Pirellis, those being Verstappen, Hadjar and Alonso. The only others being Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto.
And it was Russell who got the perfect start, leading from the front as fellow Brit Norris rocketed past championship rival and teammate Piastri up to third from his grid position of fifth. It appeared the ideal start, but upon closer inspection, a damaged front wing after minor contact with Verstappen led to minor concern.
The damage, however, wasn’t as severe as first thought and didn’t overly affect the McLaren’s downforce – critical on the tight confines of the Yas Marina circuit.
With Russell scampering away and the race settling into a rhythm after the excitement of the early laps, it soon became apparent that the all-important tyre choice decisions and critical pit stops would decide matters.
Max’s mirrors were FULL of Lando’s McLaren in the second half of the Grand Prix ⚔️😮💨#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/9RvUq8a6qK
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 5, 2025
Verstappen was first of the big hitters to roll the dice on lap 20, diving into the pits for a fresh set of white-banded hard compound Pirellis. Leclerc, Hamilton and Russell soon followed suit before the McLaren title rivals on lap 27.
For Piastri, a minor disaster, a 5.2s stop putting him back out just in front of Leclerc. And when the dust settled, it was again Russell, Verstappen, Norris and Piastri fighting for those all-important points.
An uncharacteristic lock-up from Verstappen gave Russell a modicum of breathing space. And with the Dutchman struggling with rear brake issues, Norris and Piastri closed the gap.
Try as they might, there was no stopping Russell, the Englishman netting his fifth grand prix race win and helping further his team’s advantage over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.
As for Norris, who was battling illness throughout the weekend, third place represents a best case scenario as he seeks to overturn a big points deficit with five races remaining.
“It was a tough race. Max didn’t make any mistakes whether I was feeling good or not,” said Norris. “I got close, there were a few chances where we were side by side and some good little bits of battling but as I say, too difficult to overtake because the pace was very strong today and I would have loved to catch George and give him a little bit more pressure.
“I’m happy with today, I got forward two positions and we won the team constructors’ once again and I’m most happy about that.”
SINGAPORE FAST FACTS
This was the 16th running of the Singapore GP
George Russell becomes the sixth race winner in Singapore following Sebastian Vettel (5 wins), Lewis Hamilton (4 wins), Fernando Alonso (2 wins) Sergio Perez (1 win) and Carlos Sainz (1 win)
Daniel Ricciardo still holds the lap record with a 1m34.486s time
Sebastian Vettel still holds the record of race victories at 5 and shares the pole position record with Lewis Hamilton at 4
McLaren secured their first back-to back title since 1991 when Ayrton Senna netted his third and final title
The race was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
SINGAPORE GP TECH TALK WITH CRAIG SCARBOROUGH
The Singapore GP offers one of the biggest tests for the drivers on the calendar for a variety of reasons. Because the race takes place at night, the drivers effectively have to adapt quickly back to European time and adjust their body clocks accordingly from the flight over from Baku.
That’s not all the drivers have to cope with. The extreme humidity and soaring cockpit temperatures mean the drivers have to take on plenty of fluid to compensate for the up to 3kg of body weight they can lose in the race.
Click here to read tech guru Craig Scarborough’s comprehensive guide to the mechanics and tech of the Singapore Grand Prix.
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