Singapore GP: Max Verstappen wins event for first time in F1 career ahead of Charles Leclerc as Lewis Hamilton apologises for strategy

Singapore GP: Max Verstappen wins event for first time in F1 career ahead of Charles Leclerc as Lewis Hamilton apologises for strategy | F1 News

October 11, 2026:

Singapore GP: Max Verstappen wins event for first time in F1 career ahead of Charles Leclerc as Lewis Hamilton apologises for strategy | F1 News

Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in his Formula 1 career with a dominant victory, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton endured a messy race strategically to tumble off the podium late on.

Verstappen led every lap on his way to a second consecutive win despite being unable to communicate with the team due to a radio problem, but it did not affect him as he held off an early challenge from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who eventually finished seven seconds behind in second.

Kimi Antonelli took advantage of an elbows-out battle late on between Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris, with the seven-time world champion on old tyres in the latter stages, to take third and extend his lead over George Russell to 102 points in the Drivers’ Championship.

It means Antonelli can become world champion at the next race in Austin on October 23-25, live on Sky Sports F1, should he outscore Russell by 23 points.

Russell recovered to ninth in Sunday’s race after starting 19th due to grid penalties for a new power unit, as overtaking proved very difficult at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Reigning world champion Norris was fourth ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who also overtook an ailing Hamilton late on.

Hamilton apologised to the team for his strategy, suggesting he made some of the decisive calls that led him to fall down the order on old tyres.

Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson had another strong result in seventh with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg in eighth, while Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar went from the pit lane to the points in 10th.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Williams’ Alex Albon all retired with reliability issues but no full Safety Cars were required.

Verstappen dominates as Hamilton strategy goes wrong

Coming into the race, pole-sitter Verstappen was concerned about the start as Red Bull have been among the worst starters on the grid throughout 2026.

Leclerc in second had a better initial getaway to almost draw fully alongside Verstappen into Turn 1, but the Dutchman smartly pinched the Ferrari driver and had a better angle to swoop around the outside and, crucially, keep first place.

It looked like Ferrari had more pace early on as Leclerc consistently stayed within one second of Verstappen during the opening 15 laps. However, Verstappen was managing his tyres and began to stretch his lead as the first stint went on, ending up nine seconds ahead by the time Leclerc pitted on lap 25.

The advantage Verstappen built meant he could pit on lap 33 and still emerge in the lead. A Virtual Safety Car for Stroll coming to a halt saw Leclerc pit for fresh softs on lap 39 but he was unable to reel in his 17-second deficit to Verstappen, who won on his 250th grand prix start.

“The last few races have been really positive for us. It’s just great to see and we have a lot of motivation in the team to deliver even more results,” said Verstappen.

“It’s a really good group of people, I really enjoy working with them, and hopefully we can have a bit more fun to the end of the year.”

The main story of the Singapore Grand Prix saw a bold strategy by Hamilton go completely wrong, which the British driver held his hand up for post-race.

Starting on mediums, which seemed to be a worse race tyre compared to the softs, Hamilton, in third, was the first of the front-runners to pit on lap 19 so he could get onto the softs as early as possible.

He set some impressive lap times on fresh rubber but was stuck behind Leclerc after the Monegasque driver made his pit stop onto the mediums.

Hamilton felt he was getting held up and when the Virtual Safety Car came out for Stroll’s stoppage, Ferrari called him to pit and double stack behind Leclerc, but Hamilton decided to stay out.

“Sorry boys. I let you down today with that strategy. My call, and I lost us valuable points. I’ll try and make up for it in the next one,” said Hamilton on the radio after the chequered flag.

This left him vulnerable for the remainder of the race on ageing soft tyres as Leclerc quickly caught and overtook him, but that was the least of his problems.

Norris and Antonelli were also catching at a rate of knots and Hamilton thought he could hold on, given the difficulty of overtaking. He got his elbows out against Norris, cutting the first chicane in their battle for third which enabled Antonelli to take fourth from the McLaren driver, before he also passed Hamilton a lap later.

Eventually Norris got through and so did Piastri, who was forced to pit for a second time due to a slow puncture. Given Ferrari were hoping to challenge Verstappen for victory, Hamilton’s sixth will be massively frustrating for the team.

Formula 1 next heads to The Americas for another triple header with the United States Grand Prix in Austin up first on October 23-25, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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Singapore GP Result: Top 10

Verstappen dominates as Hamilton strategy goes wrong