SINGAPORE – George Russell beat Max Verstappen to victory at the Singapore Grand Prix where drama unfolded between title-chasing McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen held on to second position at the end after a long period of pressure from Norris, who had controversially passed Piastri for third with a wheel-banging move at the start.
On paper, the result was significant in both championships, with Norris cutting Piastri’s drivers’ championship lead to 22 points with six races to go, and enough for McLaren to secure a second straight constructors’ championship – although things seemed far from harmonious given how the start of the race had unfolded between the team’s drivers.
Russell’s routine win from pole, his second of the season, was effectively secured the moment he held off Verstappen at the start and through the first few corners. But it proved to be a side-story to the drama behind.
A lightning getaway from Norris from fifth saw him wheel-to-wheel with Piastri, who started third, at Turn 1, before being immediately bottled up behind Verstappen through the Turn 3 left-hander.
As Norris moved right to avoid the Red Bull he slammed into Piastri side-on, which nearly put the Australian into a race-ending collision with the barrier.
Piastri was not happy with the move and the incident dominated the radio airwaves in the laps which followed. “I mean, that wasn’t very team-like, but sure …” Piastri said on the radio shortly afterwards.
Norris reported some damage — replays showed he had lost an endplate to his front wing — but it did not seem to have an impact on the rest of his race.
McLaren has walked a tightrope all year in ensuring a fair fight between its teammates — intervening as recently as the Italian Grand Prix to ask Piastri to led Norris through to finish second position after a slow pit-stop.
Piastri clearly felt Norris’ move was over the line and deserved similar treatment. He followed up with: “Are we cool with Lando barging me out of the way, or … what’s the go there?”
As McLaren reviewed the move and discussed it on the pit-wall, the team worked to cool Piastri down in the car. Race engineer Tom Stallard told Piastri: “I need you to focus on what we can do here. Control the controllables, mate” A lap later, McLaren told Piastri they would not be intervening as they felt Norris had only made contact after avoiding a collision with Verstappen.
“No further actions from stewards,” Stallard said, breaking the bad news to Piastri. “As a team we see Norris has to avoid Verstappen. Will review afterwards. ” In reply, Piastri said: “That’s not fair. Sorry, that’s not fair.
“If he has to avoid another car by crashing into his teammate that’s a pretty shit job of avoiding,” he said. At a circuit where overtaking is rare and following rivals closely is difficult in turbulent air in the wake of other cars, the move was decisive in ensuring Norris finished ahead of Piastri.
Rubbing salt into the wounds slightly later would have been a slow Piastri pit stop of 5.2 seconds, although it had little bearing on the outcome of the race. Norris might have added another two points to his gain over Piastri and spent much of the final stint of the race within DRS range of Verstappen, but was never close enough to attempt a serious overtake.
By holding onto second, Verstappen took another small chunk out of both McLaren drivers in the championship — he is now 63 points behind Piastri — but it was not the statement race victory many had predicted from the four-time world champion.
Verstappen still seems to be an unlikely bet to genuinely challenge either in the championship, but he has finished ahead of both McLaren drivers at all three of the last races.
Russell’s victory was overshadowed slightly by everything unfolding behind but it was a statement drive from a man still without a Mercedes contract beyond this season. It was his second win of the year after the Canadian Grand Prix, which he also converted from pole position.
Russell is still negotiating an extension beyond this year, something considered a formality at this stage of the year. “George, that was mega today. Driver-car combination,” Wolff said on the radio afterwards.
It was a surprise result for the Mercedes team, having come into the weekend unfancied for the win. His teammate Andrea Kimi Antoenlli finished a distant fifth, 25 seconds behind Piastri in fourth.
Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had to settle for a very deflating sixth and seventh, which capped another weekend where the Italian pace has been nowhere relative to its main rivals.
Hamilton finished the race with a track limits violation for an off-track moment at the end. The seven-time world champion complained of a brake failure late on, which may have explained what happened, but only finished 0.4 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso in eighth, meaning any post-race penalty would drop him a position.
Alonso’s superb drive to eighth for Aston Martin to convert a weekend of strong pace into a solid haul of points. It also featured some memorable back and forth with the Spaniard and his Aston Martin team on the pit wall. “If you talk to me every lap I will disconnect the radio,” he told his race engineer at one point after getting repeated updates on the situation around him.
Later, after passing the struggling Racing Bulls car of Isack Hadjar, who was suffering with engine issues, Alonso delivered another memorable one year. “Trophy for the hero of the race,” the Spaniard declared.
Haas rookie Oliver Bearman finished ninth for Haas, while Baku podium finisher Carlos Sainz claimed the final point on offer for Williams.
Williams drivers Sainz and Alex Albon had started from the back of the grid after being disqualified from qualifying on Saturday evening for a DRS infringement.
