Russell storms to victory in Singapore as McLaren seal Teams’ Championship amid Norris/Piastri clash

George Russell has claimed a dominant victory in the Singapore Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver converting pole position into a flawless win ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, while McLaren scored enough points to seal the 2025 Teams’ Championship.

Russell had led cleanly away from P1 on the grid as the race got underway, while the battle behind saw Norris clip the rear of Verstappen’s Red Bull and bang wheels with team mate Oscar Piastri, the Briton subsequently getting past his team mate in a close scrap.

While Piastri voiced his unhappiness at how the incident had played out, Russell continued to lead up ahead in a commanding performance, the Silver Arrows driver proving unchallenged as he stormed to his second win of the season and fifth career triumph.

Verstappen had a fight on his hands to keep P2 as Norris chased him down during the final stages, but the Red Bull driver defended well to maintain the position. And while Norris had to settle for third – with Piastri behind in fourth – it was enough for McLaren to become Teams’ Champions for a second consecutive season.

Kimi Antonelli enjoyed a strong drive to claim fifth, adding to Mercedes’ tally, while Charles Leclerc claimed sixth ahead of Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton. However, the seven-time World Champion was noted for exceeding track limits after the chequered flag fell and picked up a five-second penalty post race, dropping him to eighth.

Fernando Alonso, who had just missed out on overtaking Hamilton at the finish, was promoted to seventh place as a result of Hamilton's demotion. Ollie Bearman clinched two points for Haas in P9, with Carlos Sainz bouncing back after Williams’ double disqualification from Qualifying to round out the top 10.

Isack Hadjar was 11th for Racing Bulls, with the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda following in 12th ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 13th. Alex Albon had to settle for 14th, while Liam Lawson claimed 15th in the other Racing Bulls machine.

In a race that saw no retirements, the order was completed by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto (P16), Gabriel Bortoleto for Kick Sauber (P17), Haas’ Esteban Ocon (P18), the Alpine of Pierre Gasly (P19) and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg (P20).

AS IT HAPPENED

After a busy Qualifying session saw Russell claim a surprise pole position – beating Verstappen and Piastri in the process – the paddock reconvened on Sunday ready for the 62-lap Singapore Grand Prix.

A few changes had been made to the starting order in the build-up to the race, with the first being due to the disqualification of both Williams drivers from Qualifying after the rear wing on each car failed DRS slot gap checks.

As a result, Sainz would line up at the back of the grid, while Albon was confirmed to start from the pit lane due to the team opting to modify his suspension settings. Also starting from the pit lane was Gasly, with Alpine having changed the floor on his car as well as the suspension set-up under parc ferme conditions.

With rain having fallen at the Marina Bay Street Circuit earlier on Sunday, questions remained over the weather forecast in the run-up to lights out. While the drizzle seemed to have stopped as start time approached, the teams and drivers would doubtless be keeping a close eye on conditions during another humid night in Singapore, with sections of the track remaining damp.

Once all 20 drivers had assembled and the tyre blankets were removed, it was confirmed that the majority would start on the medium tyre, with the exceptions being Verstappen, Hadjar, Alonso, Tsunoda, Stroll and Colapinto on the soft compound.

Once the formation lap had been completed and the lights went out, Russell made a strong start from pole, holding the lead from Verstappen as the McLaren pair of Piastri and Norris went side-by-side, with an aggressive Norris finding a way past his team mate to move up into third.

“That wasn’t very team like,” a disgruntled Piastri reported over the radio, while Norris had picked up damage to his front wing to leave the endplate hanging off. Replays showed that the Briton had clipped the rear of Verstappen’s Red Bull before then banging wheels with the other McLaren.

Elsewhere Leclerc had gained a position on Antonelli to run in fifth, with Hamilton in seventh ahead of Alonso, Hadjar and Bearman. A potential collision between the latter two was noted by the stewards, though no further investigation was deemed necessary.

This also was the case for the incident between Norris and Piastri, but the latter was keen to hear whether the team would choose to take any action. The championship leader was subsequently informed that the incident would be discussed after the race, leading Piastri to respond: “That’s not fair.”

Up ahead, Russell had built up a lead of over four seconds from Verstappen as the race reached the Lap 10 mark, the Dutchman going on to report difficulties with the downshifts on his RB21. Norris, meanwhile, was a further 1.5s back as he tried to hunt down the Red Bull.

Further back, a gap of more than seven seconds had developed between seventh-placed Hamilton and Alonso in P8, with Hadjar hot on the tail of the Aston Martin. But as Lap 14 arrived, attentions turned to the pit lane as Tsunoda and Bortoleto became the first drivers to stop, the latter having picked up damage to his front wing endplate from earlier contact during Lap 1.

Back out on track, Norris clipped the wall but looked to have avoided any damage, while Antonelli seemed to be experiencing a steering issue down the straights during his first F1 race in Singapore.

The McLaren pit crew appeared to be readying themselves for a Norris stop on Lap 18, only for the Briton to be told to stay out on track instead. But just two laps later, Red Bull brought Verstappen in for the hard tyres, the Dutchman emerging back on track in seventh ahead of Alonso. How would Norris and McLaren respond?

Leclerc was the next frontrunner to pit on Lap 22, also for the hard compound. This initially put him in P10 behind Hulkenberg, but it did not take long for the Ferrari to overtake. As for Verstappen, the World Champion was informed that he was free to push, leading him to respond: “Everything is working against me this race.”

At the front, Russell admitted that his tyres were struggling, his lead still remaining at just under nine seconds from Norris. Hamilton, meanwhile, pitted for the hard tyres after being chased down by Verstappen – only to experience a slightly slow stop, with a delay on the front right bringing him out in P9.

Russell was the next to stop with Antonelli following as part of a double stack, bringing the former race leader out into third. Over at McLaren, Norris was asked if he would be happy for Piastri to pit before him to protect from Leclerc, but the Briton’s response was a “no”.

With this seeing Norris pit first, Piastri inherited the lead of the race. The Australian was subsequently called to pit but an issue with the left rear resulted in another slow stop at 5.2s, the McLaren then returning to the track in fourth.

Another driver to experience a delay during their visit to the pits was Alonso, the Spaniard dropping down to P15 as a result. Also experiencing problems was Hadjar, with the Frenchman left frustrated by an engine issue on his Racing Bulls as he circulated in P14.

As the race reached its halfway point on Lap 31, Russell led Verstappen by more than three seconds, ahead of Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Antonelli, Hamilton – all of whom had stopped – Lawson, Stroll and Sainz, the latter three yet to pit.

Verstappen was not giving up in P2, however. The Red Bull driver – on a track that he has never previously claimed victory at – looked to be cutting into the gap to Russell. Elsewhere, Antonelli was looking quick in P6, while Sainz was chasing down Stroll for P9, the Aston Martin driver impressively still running the soft tyres.

That charge from Verstappen hit a snag when the Dutch driver locked his front tyre on Lap 37, narrowly avoiding contact with the barriers whilst losing two seconds to Russell, prompting a sweary response from Verstappen over the radio.

Elsewhere Alonso was engaged in a feisty battle with Hadjar, the Spaniard getting past before radioing in: “Trophy for the hero of the race!” His team mate Stroll, meanwhile, finally pitted for the medium tyres, emerging back on track in last place.

“The rear is like a handbrake,” a struggling Verstappen reported on Lap 40 as he sought help for the issue – just as Norris looked to be closing in on the Red Bull, the margin coming down to just under 1.5s.

It was not all smooth sailing for Norris, however, with replays showing the McLaren man having a moment that saw him just avoid hitting the wall. Further back there were plenty of squabbles playing out, as Albon locked up during a scrap with Alonso while Colapinto fought with Hulkenberg, an incident that was noted by the stewards.

There was further trouble for Hulkenberg on Lap 45 after spinning off the track at Turn 7, briefly triggering the yellow flags before the Kick Sauber got going again, rejoining at the back of the pack.

Russell vented his frustration as he approached the backmarkers, the Mercedes driver calling for blue flags as he shouted: “Get out of the way!” The gap back to Verstappen remained at 4.4s – but, crucially, Norris was now only around half a second behind the Red Bull man with 15 laps remaining.

Back in fourth, Piastri seemed disgruntled as he sarcastically commented: “This race is so much fun.” The Australian was told that opportunities remained during the race, all while Norris continued to chase Verstappen.

Hamilton, meanwhile, pitted for soft tyres as he emerged in seventh into fresh air, while others to make late stops included Lawson and Sainz, dropping both further down the order.

Elsewhere Antonelli snatched P5 from Leclerc – just as Hamilton was also closing in on the Monegasque, with the team then opting to allow the seven-time World Champion through to chase the Mercedes ahead.

With just a few laps to go, Norris was still trying to catch Verstappen, the scrap allowing Piastri to close the gap down to 3.1s. And while the gap closed further in the next few tours, it did not seem to be enough for the Australian to get involved in the battle.

There were problems for Hamilton who reported issues with his brakes, leading Ferrari to swap their drivers back around. But there were no such troubles for his former team mate Russell, who crossed the line by 5.430s from Verstappen to take victory.

Despite Norris’ best attempts, Verstappen held on to cross the line in second place, but Norris’ P3 – and Piastri’s P4 – were enough for McLaren to wrap up the Teams’ Championship for a second consecutive year.

Antonelli claimed fifth place, with the Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Hamilton following in sixth and seventh respectively on the road, though it was confirmed after the race that Hamilton's five-second penalty for exceeding track limits would drop him down a place.

Alonso rose to seventh while Bearman and Sainz completed the top 10 as Hadjar just missed out in P11. The Frenchman was followed by Tsunoda, Stroll, Albon, Lawson, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Ocon, Gasly and Hulkenberg, all 20 cars reaching the finish line in Singapore.

Key quote

"It feels amazing, especially after what happened a couple of years ago," said Russell. "That was a bit of a missed opportunity, but we more than made up for it today. I’m so grateful for the team, they did an amazing job this whole weekend. We don’t really know where this performance came from, but I’m really happy."

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