Month: October 2026

Lewis Hamilton achieved his 105th career pole position in Formula 1 with his first in Scuderia red at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

This is Hamilton’s first Ferrari pole by defeating George Russell. The Mercedes driver had taken provisional pole away from Charles Leclerc with his final run at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but Hamilton responded with a marginally faster first sector to take pole by a tiny margin of 0.009 seconds.

Max Verstappen was fourth, just under two tenths behind, but will line up in fifth following an one-place grid penalty after an on-track altercation with Liam Lawson during Friday practice.

After a muted session championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fifth, with the top five was covered by just two tenths. In the shape of world champion Lando Norris, McLaren also looked like a threat for pole, but Norris was not able to record his first flyer and then dropped out of his second.

An annoyed Isack Hadjar was seventh for Red Bull after going off at the low-speed Turn 13, Red Bull’s problem this weekend. Lawson was eighth but will move down to ninth for his share in the practice incident with Verstappen. That promoted his Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad to eighth, while Lawson will line up on the fifth row alongside Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

In Q2 Hamilton and Piastri were put under some pressure when they backed out of their first flyers, needing a clean second effort to advance to Q3.

While Hamilton booked a place in the top ten shootout with fourth place in Q2, Piastri was not able to with the McLaren driver’s horrid second sector, losing nearly half a second through the Esses due to a lack of rear grip, leaving him eliminated in P13 – nine-tenths of a second behind pacesetting teammate Norris.

Gasly narrowly made the cut in P10 to Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. In the second Alpine Franco Colapinto managed to stay ahead of Piastri to take P12, while Gabriel Bortoleto went out in P14.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman was not able to string a clean lap together, losing his second flyer for track limits, and dropped out in P15 with Carlos Sainz the only Williams in Q2 as he took P16.

The Q1 segment was red-flagged with eleven minutes on the clock for Fernando Alonso as the Aston Martin grounded to a halt at the Foro Sol arena with a technical issue.

It was frustrating exit for the two-time world champion on what was looking like one of the team’s most competitive circuits, with Alonso’s only flyer almost good enough for Q2.

As Hamilton led the way with a time of one minute, 17.341 seconds, with the Aston Martin driver joined in the drop zone by Williams driver Alex Albon, who was a tenth slower than his teammate Sainz who did make the cut.

Making his Grand Prix debut for Haas, Ryo Hirakawa was P19. The Toyota WEC driver standings in for the benched Esteban Ocon. Ocon was dropped by the team without any further details, though it is believed tensions between the driver and his team have hit a breaking point. Ocon has already been replaced by Ferrari junior Rafa Camara for 2027.

Lance Stroll was P20, followed by Cadillac duo of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. The latter had already been due to start last anyway due to a grid penalty for taking a fifth Ferrari power unit.

So congratulations to Lewis Hamilton in achieving his first pole position for Ferrari. Although it will be interesting if he can maintain his position as there’s a long run from the grid towards Turn 1 on the opening lap. Except some slipstream and chaos on lap one in the race!

Mexico City Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:16.514
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:16.523
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.633
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:16.707
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:16.692*
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.824
7 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:16.900
8 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:17.117
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:17.029*
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:17.153
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:17.306
12 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:17.640
13 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.646
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:17.680
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:18.083
16 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:18.885
17 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:18.630
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:18.908
19 Ryo Hirakawa Haas-Ferrari 1:18.958
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:19.072
21 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:19.105
22 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:19.852**
*One-place grid penalty for an incident in FP2
**Grid penalty for a power unit change

Kimi Antonelli achieved his ninth victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season thanks to a dominant lights to flag drive at the United States Grand Prix and yet will have to wait until Mexico to claim the drivers’ championship.

From pole, the Mercedes driver fended off a challenge from the Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull as he stuck to the Silver Arrows’ masterplan with a clean one-stop race.

Antonelli’s ninth Grand Prix win of this season was not quite enough to secure the title just yet, but the 20-year-old star now looks set to become Formula 1’s youngest ever world champion at next weekend’s Mexico Grand Prix.

Antonelli held onto his lead at the start of the 56-lap race as second-placed Verstappen suffered a poor getaway. That left the Red Bull driver vulnerable to Leclerc, who had picked off Isack Hadjar and then swept past Verstappen with a high commitment overtake through the Esses.

Lewis Hamilton, starting on used softs, also worked his way past Hadjar. Behind him, George Russell was handed a five-second time penalty for gaining a track advantage on lap one while defending his position. As the top of the order settled down, Oscar Piastri was told to let quicker Lando Norris past on lap eight for seventh position.

At the front, Antonelli controlled a narrow three-second lead on Verstappen. That prompted Red Bull to do something different in terms of strategy and call Max in on lap 14 for a second set of soft tyres, putting him on a two-stop race.

Mercedes did not react and kept Antonelli out as it looked determined to stay on a one-stop strategy. Struggling for grip on used softs, Hamilton came in for mediums next, as did his teammate Leclerc and the McLarens.

That left a temporary top three of Antonelli, Hadjar and Russell until all came in for what was supposed to be their only pitstop, with Antonelli skipping the soft tyres entirely to go from mediums to hards on lap 25.

Verstappen did not enjoy his new-found lead all that long as he started struggling with engine braking issues, calling his Red Bull “undriveable”. It forced him into the pits on lap 32 for a second stop for mediums, dropping down to fifth position, 18 seconds behind new leader Antonelli.

On the slower hard tyres Antonelli faced a challenge from Leclerc, but both he and Ferrari teammate Hamilton were yet to stop again as Verstappen remained Antonelli’s real challenger. The Ferraris both moved to hard tyres in the final stint, which droppèd them behind Verstappen.

To get to Antonelli, though, Verstappen first had to clear second-placed Norris, who was on a one-stop strategy. Verstappen’s battle with Norris allowed Leclerc to use his fresher tyres and close the gap, with the three cars running together with ten laps to go.

At the start of lap 47, Verstappen made a late lunge on Norris to the inside of COTA’s steep Turn 1 hairpin, taking second away before Leclerc also found a way through. On much fresher tyres, Leclerc then picked off Verstappen on the back straight on lap 49 to take second position.

Antonelli’s win never came under real threat as he led Leclerc by 13 seconds, with Verstappen another four seconds behind in third.

Norris also dropped down towards Hamilton as the latter secured fourth from the reigning world champion on lap 51, which also meant the seven-time world champion remained in mathematical title contention until next week.

Hadjar finished sixth ahead of Piastri, who held off Russell for seventh. With Russell needing to avoid finishing ninth or lower to prolong his title chances, he only just managed to do so after a frustrating weekend.

Liam Lawson continued Racing Bulls’ form to fifth in the constructors’ championship by finishing ninth, with the final point going to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Antonelli is now all but certain to seal the drivers’ championship in Mexico, needing just two points to become the youngest ever title winner aged 20.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman was one of three retirements, the eventual result of first-lap damage from contact with Gasly, which Bearman was handed a 10-second penalty for and provoked a brief VSC period.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto also dropped out from the race, while Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas retired late on with engine trouble, causing the second brief virtual safety car period of the race.

Congratulations to Kimi Antonelli in winning the COTA race and despite not sealing the championship in Austin, he has a strong chance to take the title in Mexico, the next race. Just two points is needed to achieve the dream scenario. So best wishes to Kimi in the Mexico Grand Prix next weekend.

United States Grand Prix, race results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:35:16.650
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +13.078s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +17.485s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +18.515s
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +30.521s
6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +34.373s
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +52.674s
8 George Russell Mercedes +54.303s
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +79.183s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +87.516s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +94.945s
12 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +1 lap
14 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
17 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
18 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari DNF

Formula 1 championship points leader Kimi Antonelli achieved his seventh pole position of the 2026 season at the United States Grand Prix, beating Max Verstappen in competitive qualifying session in Austin.

The Mercedes driver took provisional pole with his first of two Q3 runs, with a lap time of one minute, 34.035 seconds as he headed Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Isack Hadjar by around two tenths, as few frontrunners improved on their final Q3 lap.

It was Antonelli’s first pole since the summer break as he denied Verstappen a third consecutive P1, stopping the trend of Verstappen and the Ferraris who seemed to have a slight edge on the Silver Arrows across the demanding 5.5km Circuit of the Americas.

After impressing in practice and leading the way in Q2, Charles Leclerc only managed fourth position when it mattered, with Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton in fifth.

George Russell was a disappointing sixth position ahead of the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who lost two positions after seeing his final lap deleted for track limits.

Meanwhile, Racing Bulls pairing Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson further helped their team’s bid to secure fifth in the constructors’ standings.

With Lindblad facing a five-place penalty for taking a new power unit, Lawson opted to sit out Q3 to minimise the damage for his teammate. Lawson will start P9, with Lindblad set for a start from P14.

Leclerc headed Q2 with a lap time of one minute, 34.198 seconds on his second run, beating Antonelli and Russell as well as Verstappen.

The battle for the remaining Q3 positions featured Piastri, who could not put together a good first lap and needed a second attempt to move up to sixth after taking provisional P10. Lindblad and Lawson also found late improvements to move into the top ten in a dramatic end to the segment, knocking out the Alpine and Audi cars.

Meaning Pierre Gasly was the first driver to miss the cutoff by just 0.022 seconds for Alpine, ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, with Franco Colapinto, Fernando Alonso and Oliver Bearman also knocked out. Haas driver Bearman saw a lap that was quick enough for P13 but this was deleted for track limits at Turn 11.

Bortoleto is facing a back-of-the-grid start for taking a new Audi power unit, but the Audi driver advanced to Q2 to try and help Hulkenberg with a slipstream on COTA’s long straight. Alpine’s Colapinto will drop to ten grid positions for installing new engine control electronics, joining Bortoleto on the back row for the main race.

Norris led the way in a tight Q1 session by setting a lap time of one minute, 35.029 seconds, with the reigning world champion doing two runs to secure his position, heading the four cars from Ferrari and Red Bull.

Behind them, Antonelli and Russell, as well as Piastri, all advanced using a set of medium tyres, saving a set of softs.

In the background, Fernando Alonso’s strong one minute, 36.240 seconds lap got him through to Q2 in P16 at the expense of Haas driver Esteban Ocon and his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll, who complained of a lack of rear grip.

Aston Martin’s improved performance moved Williams to Formula 1’s slowest team outside of Cadillac. Carlos Sainz headed a frustrated Alex Albon in P19, while Sergio Perez again had the measure of his Cadillac teammate Valtteri Bottas.

So advantage Kimi Antonelli with pole position at COTA with his Mercedes teammate George Russell down in P6. If the championship leader wins the main race and his title rival drops down further than P9, than his first drivers’ title is his and yet whatever the result, Antonelli fully deserves the championship thanks to his superior race performance over Russell over the course of this season. Best of luck to Kimi on race day.

United States Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:34.035
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:34.214
3 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:34.250
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:34.267
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:34.311
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:34.476
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.803
8 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.049
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:35.058
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:35.080
11 Nico Huldenberg Audi 1:35.158
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:35.818
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:36.031
14 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:36.049*
15 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:36.531
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:36.677
17 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:36.770
18 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:36.967
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:37.433
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:37.523
21 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:35.722*
22 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:35.691*
*Grid penalty for power unit changes

Max Verstappen achieved a perfect Singapore Grand Prix weekend with a sprint pole, sprint win, pole for the main race and finally Grand Prix victory. The Red Bull Racing driver led home Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli to the chequered flag at Marina Bay.

Verstappen withstood an early challenge from Leclerc and proved quicker over the remainder of the race.

Strategy cost Lewis Hamilton dear, allowing Antonelli to finish on the podium and further extend his championship lead – to the extent that he will get a first chance to take the drivers’ title in Austin, the scene of United States Grand Prix. Main rival and Mercedes teammate George Russell fought to a lowly ninth after starting P19 on the grid.

Front-row starter Charles Leclerc had the best getaway at the Marina Bay Circuit, but polesitter Verstappen ever so narrowly held him off in Turn 1. Lewis Hamilton maintained third position despite using the medium compound unlike his rivals on softs, followed by Antonelli, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – the order of the top six on the grid was unchanged.

Leclerc remained within close distance of Verstappen until Gabriel Bortoleto stopped on the start/finish straight with a gearbox issue, causing a VSC, but no driver pitted with the Audi potentially blocking the pitlane exit.

By lap 11, Hamilton’s gap to Leclerc had reached three seconds, with Lewis closely followed by Antonelli and the McLarens. However, that was when Charles started lapping half a second slower than Max. On lap 18, he was four seconds down.

That was when, despite having started on mediums, Hamilton was the first driver to pit, switching to softs. On the previous lap, Lewis had lapped 1.8 seconds slower than Max and 1.4 seconds slower than Charles.

Antonelli was the first frontrunner to move from softs to mediums on lap 23. Leclerc did likewise on the next lap and narrowly rejoined ahead of his Ferrari teammate, who was not overly happy to be stuck behind – he complained several times on the radio.

“I feel something leaking between my feet,” Antonelli reported on lap 32 – but Mercedes was not concerned – as Verstappen pitted, safely rejoining in the lead.

On lap 35, the Red Bull racer enjoyed a five-second advantage over Leclerc. Hamilton was seven seconds down, Antonelli eleven seconds adrift, with the McLarens of Norris and Piastri respectively 21 seconds and 28 seconds away from the leader, after a 4.2 seconds pitstop for Oscar.

The race was neutralised by the virtual safety car on lap 39 as Lance Stroll pulled aside with a clutch issue. Leclerc and Antonelli made the most of it to switch back from mediums to softs, but Hamilton interestingly stayed out on used softs.

“Mate, I have no f***ing brakes! I just went straight! The pedal was so long!” shouted Antonelli, as Piastri pitted again on lap 41 due to a slow puncture.

Having rejoined from his second pitstop ten seconds behind Hamilton, Leclerc caught his teammate in just five laps and quickly overtook him. He was 15 seconds down on Verstappen, who was experiencing radio issues, with 15 laps to the flag.

Leclerc brought this down to 8.3 seconds on lap 55 of 62, and yet Verstappen comfortably prevailed by 7.3 seconds.

Struggling on his 44-lap stint on softs, Hamilton came under pressure from Norris, but Antonelli picked up the pieces, overtaking both cars on his way to the podium. The seven-time world champion dropped down to sixth under the chequered flag, behind Piastri.

Starting from P19 following a power unit change, Russell made steady progress through the pack, although slow, was unable to break into the top ten before pitstops allowed him to do so.

The Mercedes racer was the last driver to change tyres, doing so during the VSC, but the timing was not right and the neutralisation ended shortly after he entered the pitlane.

Russell therefore rejoined behind Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly, only overtaking the Alpine to finish ninth.

The Alpine driver had qualified an impressive seventh but lost two positions to Lawson and Hulkenberg at the start and eventually dropped out of the top ten altogether, to Isack Hadjar’s benefit. The Red Bull driver scored one point from a pitlane start, after a tricky Saturday when he was struck by mechanical issues.

Oliver Bearman made the most moves, with breathtaking wheel-to-wheel racing against Haas teammate Esteban Ocon and a bold down-the-inside overtake on Carlos Sainz, went unrewarded in P12. Arvid Lindblad, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez followed.

Valtteri Bottas was nearly lapped by his Cadillac teammate, while Alpine’s Franco Colapinto retired due to a driveline issue. Alexander Albon also unable to finish the race.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen. In his 250th race in Formula 1, the Red Bull driver finally achieved race victory at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Singapore Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:42:00.785
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +7.335s
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +24.573s
4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +40.506s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +49.644s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +53.188s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +81.666s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +83.386s
9 George Russell Mercedes +84.677s
10 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +90.862s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
12 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
13 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
14 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
15 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
17 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +2 laps
Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF/+3 laps
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Audi DNF

Max Verstappen signed off a simply lovely Saturday by taking pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, following his sprint race win earlier.

The four-time world champion set a best effort of one minute, 31.373 seconds to finish just 0.054 seconds faster than Charles Leclerc and secure his second pole at Marina Bay, having done so for the sprint.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes teammate George Russell finished just fourth and sixth – with George knowing he will be at the back of the grid with an overhanging engine penalty, while Isack Hadjar will also start from the back following technical issues in Q1.

The first qualifying segment got off to a poor start for Esteban Ocon, who locked up and appeared to touch the wall in Turn 13. Moments later, Lance Stroll suffered a similar issue in Turn 7. Both seemingly escaped those errors without damage.

Isack Hadjar also had an off but ended up stopping out on track. “The engine is off,” he reported. The Red Bull driver eventually managing to restart his car and pitted without a lap time on the board.

Hours after colliding with Oscar Piastri in the sprint race, Lando Norris set the early pace with one minute, 33.047 seconds, 0.029 seconds quicker than his teammate. Verstappen and Hamilton were 0.194 seconds and 0.264 seconds down respectively, with the Mercedes cars over half a second adrift.

With five minutes remaining, Arvid Lindblad, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Gabriel Bortoleto and Hadjar were the bottom six drivers. Lance Stroll was just 0.04 seconds clear of the Racing Bulls. It did not go any better for Hadjar: “Same issue, I lost the gears,” he said. The Red Bull driver returned to the pitlane and was out of qualifying.

As Hamilton took the lead with a time of one minute, 32.680 seconds and improved upon with one minute, 32.429 seconds, three tenths faster than Leclerc and Norris after their respective improvements, the Silver Arrows ended up P12 and P13, nearly 1.2 seconds adrift.

Further down the classification, major progress from Lindblad and Bortoleto kicked the Aston Martins out of the top 16. Fernando Alonso’s and Lance Stroll’s ended right there.

Hamilton maintained a similar advantage on the opening runs of Q2, with his one minute, 31.766 seconds putting him four tenths clear of Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen was over half a second adrift, complaining of “insanely bad” gear shifts, followed by George Russell, Norris, Piastri and Leclerc – those five drivers within one-and-a-half tenth.

There were theoretically three Q3 spots for midfield teams, and with five minutes remaining, those were occupied by Liam Lawson, Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg. Pierre Gasly was two tenths away in P11.

Gasly actually improved by six tenths on his final attempt, jumping ahead of all his main rivals. The Racing Bulls managed to regain their advantage over the Alpine, but Pierre still taking the final spot for the top ten shootout, as the Hulk gained an insufficient two tenths late on.

Having clipped the wall in Turn 17, Franco Colapinto ended up down in P16, around 1.2 seconds down on his teammate.

Meanwhile, Hamilton revealed his dominance with one minute, 31.529 seconds, which only Verstappen came close to, in one minute, 31.639 seconds. Norris and Leclerc were 0.366 seconds and 0.424 seconds down respectively. Antonelli and Russell, again, were more than half a second adrift.

It was actually Verstappen who set the pace early on in Q3 with one minute, 31.373 seconds, with Hamilton achieving one minute, 31.496 seconds despite being nearly three tenths faster than his old title rival in sector two.

Antonelli was up to an encouraging third place with one minute, 31.562 seconds, with Leclerc, Norris and Russell all within four tenths of the leader. Piastri, however, was 0.820 seconds adrift, having been slower than anyone but Lindblad in the final sector.

Both Verstappen and Hamilton were unable to improve on their final Q3 run. Lewis was jumped by Ferrari teammate Charles for second place, although it was 0.054 seconds slower than Red Bull’s polesetter.

Piastri was the only other top team driver to improve, by some margin – over three tenths – but that was not enough for him to gain a position. Oscar took seventh behind Kimi, Lando and George.

Gasly was best of the rest for Alpine with a one minute, 32.225 seconds. Lawson and Lindblad ended up 0.144 seconds and 0.556 seconds slower respectively.

Singapore Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:31.373
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.427
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:31.496
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.562
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.712
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.860
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:32.225
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:32.369
9 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:32.781
10 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:32.784
11 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:32.908
12 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:33.323
13 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:33.526
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:33.658
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:33.787
16 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:34.289
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:34.946
18 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:35.123
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:35.984
20 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford No time
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Marin-Honda 1:34.223*
22 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.747*
*Grid penalty for power unit change

Max Verstappen took victory in the final sprint race of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Singapore Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver finished first as George Russell crashed out of the lead at the end of the first lap whole the McLarens collided on the final lap.

A downpour soaked the starting grid 15 minutes before the scheduled start, while some parts of the Marina Bay Circuit remained dry. The race was delayed by half an hour due to the standing water in Turns 2 and 3.

When the sprint finally got underway, all cars started on intermediate tyres after two formation laps.

Front-row starter Russell had a much better getaway than Verstappen and took the lead before Turn 1, with Lewis Hamilton up to third from sixth on the grid. Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly followed, with Isack Hadjar down to P11.

Russell’s lead was short-lived, as he lost control of his Silver Arrow on the kerb at the exit of the last corner and spun into the inside wall at the end of lap one. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez collided at Turn 16, with the Aston Martin coming to a stop against the barriers, and Isack Hadjar retired after reporting “the engine braking is dying”.

The safety car was called into action, with the race neutralised for five laps – during which Arvid Lindblad spun, rejoining in last position after driving the wrong way down the track, and Franco Colapinto’s race ended because of a technical issue.

Verstappen maintained the lead at the restart, while Oliver Bearman snatched eighth place away from Gasly after wheel-to-wheel action throughout sector one. The Alpine driver lost another two positions over the following two laps. Pierre complained of being pushed wide by Nico Hulkenberg, but the race stewards took no further action.

Verstappen’s gap to Hamilton hovered between 0.7 seconds and 1.4 seconds from lap seven to lap 11 before the Red Bull driver significantly pulled away, with his advantage reaching three seconds at the end of lap 13 and five seconds by lap 16.

The intermediate compound was greatly suffering on the mostly dry track, so it was all about tyre management. Leclerc reported his front tyres were “destroyed”. The Ferrari driver was losing two seconds a lap to teammate Hamilton and was caught by the McLarens and Antonelli with three laps remaining.

Norris dove down the inside of Piastri on the very last lap, but the Papaya cars made contact and spun. The reigning world champion dropped down to eighth, while his McLaren teammate retired, costing the team eight points.

Meanwhile, Verstappen achieved victory with a reduced but healthy 2.6s-second lead over Hamilton, as Leclerc held off to take third. Antonelli inherited fourth ahead of Lawson, Bearman and Hulkenberg.

So a dramatic opening lap with George Russell crashing out and a final lap contact between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. In between this, the sprint race was a procession, and yet Max Verstappen finally scoring a win at Marina Bay.

Singapore Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 39:48.162
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +2.591s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +16.871s
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +17.238s
5 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +20.632s
6 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +24.321s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +27.525s
8 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +28.272s
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +36.220s
10 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +37.640s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +50.464s
12 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +52.467s
13 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +55.792
Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes DNF
Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Audi DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford DNF
Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes DNF
George Russell Mercedes DNF
Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF

Max Verstappen will start the final sprint race of the 2026 Formula 1 season in pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix.

This is the first time the Red Bull driver has come first in a qualifying session of any sort at the Marina Bay Circuit, though he will be investigated afterwards for a yellow flag infringement which occurred in SQ1.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start the sprint race from only seventh position, having been outpaced by the Ferraris and McLarens.

No driver had even set a lap time in Q1 when Sergio Perez caused a yellow flag as he crashed into the Tecpro at Turn 5. The Cadillac driver damaged his front wing and eventually lost it on the racing line, with the red flag waved to clear the debris.

There were just six minutes remaining, with few actually competitive lap times set. As a consequence, the final moments were a rush to get a decent lap time, with cars out in the pitlane several minutes before the light even went green.

Verstappen eventually went fastest with one minute, 33.477 seconds, nearly half a second slower than his own FP1 on the same medium tyre. The Red Bull driver led Charles Leclerc by 0.018 seconds and Russell by 0.096 seconds, with Lewis Hamilton 0.271 seconds down.

Everyone else was at least six tenths adrift, starting with an impressive Nico Hulkenberg for Audi, closely followed by Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Antonelli.

Further down the classification, Carlos Sainz was slowest of all. “I had a lot of front locking and no rear, combined,” he complained on the radio. He was eliminated after Q1, like Williams teammate Alexander Albon, the Cadillacs, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Arvid Lindblad. The Racing Bulls driver was missing one tenth to make the cut, following a confusion created by an FIA software glitch.

Verstappen went 0.75 seconds quicker than the SQ1 fastest time as early as his first attempt in the second segment of sprint qualifying, setting a time of one minute, 32.724 seconds.

However, the four-time champion’s reference was quickly surpassed by Leclerc, Hamilton and Norris, with the Ferrari driver adding one minute, 32.457 seconds to the leaderboard. Antonelli and Russell were six and nine tenths adrift respectively.

Meanwhile, Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were at risk of elimination. Even Hadjar was missing nearly half a second compared to Nico Hulkenberg.

Russell’s second attempt was no better, with a lock-up into Turn 13. Hadjar’s and Colapinto’s respective improvements knocked the eight-time Grand Prix winner out of the top ten, but a final progress saw him jump to safety in fourth.

Colapinto was therefore eliminated with a 0.094 seconds deficit on Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, along with Hulkenberg, who was unable to improve late on.

Switching from medium to soft compound as per the regulations, drivers had few chances to make an impact in the eight-minute SQ3 stage.

The McLarens and Mercedes were first out, with Norris setting the pace in one minute, 31.587 seconds, leading Piastri by 0.189 seconds, Russell by 0.250 seconds and Antonelli by 0.518 seconds.

Then it was the Ferraris in action and Leclerc went quickest in one minute, 31.568 seconds, narrowly edging Norris out. Hamilton was nearly two tenths faster than his tea-mate in the first sector but lost even more in the final part to end up 0.134 seconds apart.

Leclerc then improved late on with one minute, 31.399 seconds, but could not hold off a much quicker Verstappen, who set a lap time with one minute, 31.156 seconds on his single attempt – the first time he has won out in a qualifying session at this street circuit, even if this does not count as a pole position in the record books.

Russell scored a front-row spot in the final moments of the session, leading Leclerc, Piastri, Norris and Hamilton.

Antonelli ended up seventh, 0.693 seconds down on Verstappen, with Lawson, Hadjar and Gasly making up the top ten.

Singapore Grand Prix, sprint qualifying:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:31.156
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.276
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.399
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.454
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.587
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:31.702
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.849
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:32.341
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:32.048
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:33.319
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:33.249
12 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:33.420
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:33.423
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:33.466
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:33.734
16 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:34.368
17 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:35.136
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:35.662
19 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:36.130
20 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:36.760
21 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:36.868
22 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:37.376

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen achieved his 72nd victory in his Formula 1 career in an eventful Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

After the Sepang race was delayed by an hour and a half due to dysfunctional software on a wet track, Verstappen beat both Silver Arrows drivers to take the win as George Russell suffered a technical issue.

After a 40-minute delay due to a rain, the formation lap began, with Isack Hadjar having a trip through the gravel as the whole field warmed up intermediate tyres. Several cars, including front-row starters Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, suffered software glitches that rendered throttle input ineffective. The red flag was waved, which delayed the race by a further 53 minutes.

When the race finally got under way, only nine cars went for intermediate tyres, including Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli, Russell and Isack Hadjar. Others like Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri stayed with slicks – as did Pierre Gasly, who spun out behind the safety car on lap one and dropped to P13.

A standing start took place at the end of lap two, as Piastri, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg made late pitstops to switch from slicks to intermediates.

The Silver Arrows of Antonelli and Russell moved to the front of the pack easily at five red lights out, despite polesitter Verstappen having the same intermediates. The four-time world champion only narrowly held off Liam Lawson for third, with the Racing Bulls driver enjoying a good getaway too.

Meanwhile, the Ferraris dropped down the order, along with Norris. Having clipped Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi, Leclerc pitted at the end of that lap for a new front wing and moved to intermediates, while teammate Hamilton lost further track positions trying to make their gamble work – along with the Alpines, Oliver Bearman, Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas.

Verstappen passed Russell for second place in Turn 4 on lap six, with the top three drivers within three seconds while fourth-placed Lawson was ten seconds down. He was overtaken by Hadjar at the last corner on that same lap.

Verstappen caught Antonelli and started putting pressure on the race leader on lap eight. Antonelli went wide at the last corner but retained the lead.

Bottas lost control in Turn 13 on lap nine and ended up benched in the gravel, causing a safety car period that was perfect timing for the inter-shod runners to switch to slicks, as the latter had become the quicker tyre compound, while allowing those who stick with slicks to recover.

Antonelli led from Verstappen, Russell, Hadjar, Lawson, Ocon, Lindblad, Sainz, Bortoleto and Piastri, with a variety of slick tyre compounds out on track – most interestingly the Mercedes drivers on mediums and the Red Bulls on softs – while Hamilton, Norris and Leclerc were down in P15 to P17, with the Ferraris on softs and Norris on hards.

A determined Verstappen went around the outside of Antonelli at the restart in Turn 1, while Russell went past in Turn 5, with the championship leader dropping to third in a few seconds. Meanwhile, Bortoleto and Sainz collided, with the Williams dropping down to P18 and the Audi driver handed a 10-second penalty.

As Verstappen pulled away from the Silver Arrows by over three seconds, Antonelli was getting impatient behind his teammate, but team orders were not in play, so the championship leader found a way past in Turn 4 on lap 21. Further down the field, Hamilton was overtaking his opponents one after another, climbing to fifth by lap 22, while Leclerc broke into the top ten on the following lap.

Antonelli went wide at the last corner and hit the pit entry bollard on lap 24, losing another two seconds to Verstappen, with the gap up to 7.5 seconds. He was now just one second ahead of Russell, but both gaps subsequently increased.

The wave of second pitstops began on lap 29 for frontrunners, including Russell on lap 32, moving to softs – too early. Antonelli logically followed on the next lap to avoid being undercut, and so did Verstappen, now comfortably leading by 11 seconds.

As Hadjar found himself under pressure from Hamilton, the virtual safety car neutralized the race, with Alex Albon stopped due to a technical failure. Verstappen opted for a ‘cheap’ pitstop but gave up the lead to Antonelli. Both Ferraris also changed tyres.

Mercedes eventually opted to pit both cars on the following lap, along with most frontrunners, until the VSC turned into a full safety car.

Ahead of the final laps in green-flag conditions, Verstappen led Antonelli, Russell, Hadjar, Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Lawson and Alonso, who fought his way into the top ten.

But before racing even got back under way, Russell stopped trackside with a technical issue and retired, while Norris was surprised by cars slowing down ahead and had a trip through the gravel and fell to P11.

There were just four laps remaining when the safety car returned to the pitlane, and Verstappen mastered the restart. After that, Max was never at threat from Kimi and was victorious. Hamilton found a way past Hadjar in Turn 1 on lap 53, clinching his first podium finish since Silverstone. The Red Bull driver also dropped behind the Ferrari of Leclerc.

Piastri finished sixth ahead of Lawson, while a combative Alonso held off Norris for eighth. Lindblad scored the last available point in P10, underlining another strong day for Racing Bulls relative to the rival Alpine team.

Having held sixth place early on, Esteban Ocon collapsed to P15 under the chequered flag, behind teammate Oliver Bearman.

So after a long delay due to the weather, the race finally got going and it was entertaining. Back in 2017, Max achieved his second victory. Nine years later, he has scored his 72nd at the same track.

Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:47:14.808
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +2.307s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +4.919s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +7.258s
5 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +8.571s
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +9.454s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +12.753s
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +13.372s
9 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +13.993s
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +15.928s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +17.404s
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +18.052s
13 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +18.997s
14 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +22.305s
15 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +22.532s
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +23.315s
17 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +25.431s
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +28.233s
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +29.310s
George Russell Mercedes DNF
Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF

Max Verstappen achieved his first pole position of the 2026 Formula 1 season following a dominant qualifying session at Sepang, scene of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

The Red Bull driver was fastest in all three qualifying segments after also topping FP1 to take his first pole since the 2025 Abu Dhabi finale with a lap time of one minute, 35.130 seconds at Sepang.

Verstappen will be joined on the front row by Lewis Hamilton on the weekend Malaysia ends its nine-year hiatus from Formula 1 to host the Bahrain Grand Prix due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

It comes after the four-time world champion also went fastest in the first runs of Q3, taking the provisional top slot with a time of one minute, 35.250 seconds, 0.308s quicker than teammate Isack Hadjar.

Verstappen was unable to improve in the first two sectors of his second lap, before bouncing back with a purple final sector to go 0.120 seconds faster for his 49th pole in Max’s career.

His final time was 0.298 seconds faster than Hamilton’s one minute, 35.428 seconds for Ferrari, which pushed Hadjar down to third. He will drop five places for an ICE change.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli endured a struggle by taking fourth, 0.501 seconds off the pace, after entering Q3 already compromised by what happened in Q2.

The Mercedes driver had to push through an extra set of new softs after his first Q2 lap was deleted for track limits at Turn 6, leading to him doing just one lap in the final segment.

Antonelli’s one minute, 35.631 seconds ultimately sees him start third following Hadjar’s penalty, one place above Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc with a time of one minute, 35.666 seconds.

Defending champion Lando Norris was 0.627 seconds off the pace with the sixth-fastest time on a weekend McLaren has struggled for speed, with teammate Oscar Piastri taking seventh-fastest with one minute, 35.762 seconds – though again, both will be promoted one position on the grid.

It was even more of a struggle for Antonelli’s teammate George Russell, who was 0.741 seconds off the pace in eighth, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top ten.

Liam Lawson missed out on Q3 by two tenths to take P11 after being pushed into the Q2 elimination zone by Bortoleto right at the end.

The Racing Bulls driver will duly share the sixth row with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who took his best qualifying result of the season, while P13 went to Williams driver Carlos Sainz.

Sainz will be joined on the seventh row by Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll in the first double Q2 appearance for Aston Martin, who confirmed both drivers for 2027 season.

Franco Colapinto took P15, but the Alpine driver will start the race at the back due to a 15-place grid penalty. Five for his Baku collision and ten for changing his Mercedes power unit.

Arvid Lindblad took P16 for Racing Bulls, as he is also set for a grid drop, one position above Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg who paid the price for starting Q1 on the mediums.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman will join him on the ninth row in P18 ahead of his outgoing teammate Esteban Ocon in P19. His first Q1 exit since Spa.

Alex Albon’s frustrations continued with P20 for Williams ahead of the usual suspects. Valtteri Bottas in P21, three tenths quicker than Cadillac teammate Sergio Perez.

So fantastic to see Max Verstappen taking pole position. The Red Bull look very competitive at this Sepang circuit. To have his former championship rival Lewis Hamilton in P2 will make the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia an exciting race.

Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, qualifying results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:35.130
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:35.428
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:35.631
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:35.666
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.757
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.762
7 George Russell Mercedes 1:35.871
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:35.558*
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:37.210
10 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:37.673
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:37.023
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:37.220
13 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:37.527
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:37.566
15 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford No time
16 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:37.970
17 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:37.980
18 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:38.233
19 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:38.600
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:38.611
21 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:38.933
22 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes No time**
*Five-place grid penalty for power unit changes
**Fifteen-place grid penalty for causing a collision in Baku and power unit changes