Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race after George Russell crashed out from the lead, missing a chance to cut his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli’s advantage in the hunt for the Formula One title.
In a chaotic race on Saturday that also saw Lando Norris collide with his McLaren teammate, Australia’s Oscar Piastri, Russell beat Verstappen off the line at the start in wet conditions but lost control when he put a wheel on a painted line at the end of the first lap, spinning across the track and into the barrier.
The British driver tapped his hands against the car in frustration as he climbed out.
“I’m fine. Sorry, sorry, sorry,” he told Mercedes over the radio.
Verstappen eased to the win after that, backing up his victory in Malaysia last week, with Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc second and third.
Antonelli was fourth, extending his lead over Russell from 84 points to 89, after he picked up two positions on the last lap when Norris and Piastri collided ahead of him.
Norris tried an ambitious overtake down the inside of his teammate but badly misjudged it and sent the Australian spinning into the barrier.
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown shook his head in dismay on the pit wall.
Russell has a grid penalty for Sunday’s Grand Prix, meaning the 20-year-old Antonelli could take another big step towards becoming F1’s youngest-ever champion.
Russell wasn’t the only driver to be caught out in the wet conditions. He was one of eight non-finishers after a spate of collisions and technical problems, with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar stopped by car trouble.
Verstappen said Red Bull will need to work on its “horrendous” starts after he lost the lead off the line, just as he did in Malaysia last week.
“We don’t accelerate off the line,” he said. “Up until now we always have terrible starts, so we need to understand what’s going on there.”
New Zealander Liam Lawson was fifth for Racing Bulls, with Haas’s Oliver Bearman sixth and Nico Hulkenberg seventh for Audi.
Norris recovered to claim a point in eighth in the last sprint of 2026.
The start was delayed because of heavy rain, making it the second week running that an F1 race has started late. Last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was first held up by a downpour, then because several cars’ software failed to cope with the wet conditions.
The FIA issued a software update that was also being used in Singapore this week.
Qualifying is later on Saturday for the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.
