Autobayng News Team
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Hamilton has been given a five-second time penalty for multiple track limits breaches on the final lap.
Here are our reports on the Singapore Grand Prix and McLaren clinching the constructors’ championship.
Russell wins in Singapore!
Hamilton got past Antonelli but went off afterwards. He says: “I’ve lost my brakes.”
Hadjar: “Please confirm the situation is clear on Max and Norris.”
Antonelli has passed Leclerc for fifth place so Hamilton is now reeling in his team mate.
No funny business from Tsunoda, he lets Verstappen and Norris past into turn seven.
L53 Norris gets Verstappen defending into turn seven.
L52 Sainz finally pits, Alonso moves back up to eighth ahead of Bearman and Hadjar, still on course for a point with an engine problem.
Hamilton is flying on his softs, taking over three seconds per lap out of Antonelli ahead of him. They’re separated by 15 seconds.
L49 Verstappen dives around the outside of Colapinto into turn five, briefly gets the Alpine between him and Norris, and edges just out of DRS range.
L48 Russell is now clear of the backmarkers. Piastri is closing on Verstappen and Norris as they pick their way through the slower cars.
L47 Hamilton has made a second pit stop. Norris is now breathing down Verstappen’s neck.
Verstappen: “I’m struggling a lot now.”
L46 Norris is 1.1s behind Verstappen after they lap Stroll.
Hulkenberg has spun at turn seven, he gets going again.
L45 Norris is one-and-a-half seconds off Verstappen again.
L44 Russell is now at the tail of a queue of traffic. He picks off Ocon.
Albon locks up heavily as Alonso passes him for 11th. With Lawson and Sainz ahead still due to pit, Alonso is on course for points despite his slow pit stop.
L42 A poor lap for Norris costs him eight tenths of a second to Verstappen.
Verstappen: “The rear is like a handbrake. Please help.”
L39 Verstappen has gone off at turn two twice on consecutive laps.
Alonso has fought his way past Hadjar, who defended hard despite his engine problem.
Verstappen has a big lock-up at turn 14, he keeps his car out of the barrier but it’s cost him time to Russell and Norris is now 1.8s behind him.
L32 Past half-distance, Verstappen is taking a few tenths of a second out of Russell ahead and Norris is coming with him.
“If you speak to me every lap I will disconnect the radio,” says a thoroughly unimpressed Alonso.
A bad stop for Aston Martin too and that may have harpooned Alonso’s chance of scoring points in this race.
Another slow pit stop for McLaren! Piastri loses three seconds with a slow tyre change. He rejoins the track and it hasn’t cost him a position but it’s dropped him further behind Norris.
Hamelin to Hadjar: “We have an engine issue, three to four tenths a lap. I’m sorry.”
L27 Either way Norris is in now.
McLaren ask Norris if he’s willing to let Piastri pit before him. He replies: “Yes.” Them: “Er, no.” Bad memories of Monza or worried his team mate won’t return the favour after what happened on lap one?
L26 Russell pits from the lead. Antonelli comes in behind him. That leaves the McLaren pair in the lead.
Not a great pit stop for Hamilton.
L25 More good news for Verstappen as Ferrari pit Hamilton as soon as the Red Bull draws within range of him.
L22 Verstappen complains “everything is working against me in this race” but Leclerc ahead of him has just pitted which will help.
Hadjar pits and narrowly comes out ahead of Colapinto, then defends from him at turn seven.
Verstappen is immediately on it, fastest of anyone in sectors two and three, that ensures Norris won’t immediately overcut him.
L20 Red Bull bring Verstappen in. He’s stationary for three seconds so it’s not their best pit stop. He comes out just ahead of Alonso – the Aston Martin driver is even able to open his DRS.
McLaren gave Norris a “box to overtake Verstappen” message but he did not come in.
Alonso has picked up the pace and pulled out over two seconds on Hadjar.
L15 Russell’s lead is eight seconds. Will Joseph tells Norris to stay close to Verstappen as they’re almost within range to attempt an undercut.
Norris touches the wall at turn 17. Bortoleto pits for a new front wing after damaging it at the start and Tsunoda comes in for hards from a lowly 17th.
Lambiase: “Any change with the downshifts?” Verstappen: “No, it’s really shit.”
After 10 laps Russell is five seconds up the road. Alonso is 20 seconds off the lead in eighth.
Alonso in eighth is dropping back quickly from Hamilton ahead. Tha could create a gap for the leaders to pit in time. A pit stop takes less time now so the leaders don’t need the field to drop back as far as last year.
Piastri continuing to argue with McLaren over Norris’s move at the start.
L5 Russell’s lead over Verstappen is 2.6 seconds. Norris is just barely within DRS range of the Red Bull. Piastri is two-and-a-half seconds back, followed by Leclerc, who is up from seventh.
The stewards have ruled no foul over the Norris-Piastri incident. However Piastri is asking the team whether they are happy with Norris’s driving.
Will McLaren have to pit Norris to replace that endplate? In Zandvoort the FIA stewards said Sauber did not need to bring Bortoleto in for the same reason as “it was accepted by the FIA representatives that the end plate is not a structural component”.
Norris’s front wing endplate damage was actually caused by contact with the rear of Verstappen’s car as he went down the inside of Piastri at turn three.
Piastri goes wide at turn 16. Norris’s front-left endplate is askew.
Great pass by Hadjar on Alonso at turn eight.
The Singapore Grand Prix is go. Russell holds his lead and Norris makes a great start to take third behind Verstappen.
The drivers are taking their places on the grid ready for the start.
All drivers will start the race on mediums apart from Verstappen, Hadjar, Alonso, Tsunoda, Stroll and Colapinto on softs.
In these scenarios where on grip alone it looks like a 50-50 call whether to start on slicks or not, teams will have a strong incentive to start on intermediates as they know they’ll have to make a pit stop if they start on slicks anyway, and starting on intermediates reduces the chance of getting involved in an incident.
During his reconnaissance lap, pole-winner George Russell said he agreed with team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s view that it was too wet to start the race on slicks.
Rain fell a short while ago. The track is damp but drying.
However Albon may have got himself in trouble again. He’s under investigation for failing to comply with the instructions on practice starts.
Both Williams drivers were disqualified yesterday, but will be allowed to start the race. The team have made a set-up change to Albon’s suspension which means he will have to start from the pit lane. Sainz will start from the grid.
We’re one hour away from the start of the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix.
2025 Singapore Grand Prix
- 2025 Singapore Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
- “I can’t go any slower”: How Williams used Albon to get Sainz into the points
- Alonso criticises TV coverage after broadcast misses last-lap drama with Hamilton
- Ferrari must fix ‘lift-and-coast’ problem admits Vasseur after Leclerc’s radio outburst
- ‘At a time when it should be more difficult to dominate, we’ve done it’ – Norris
