George Russell achieved his second victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season with a solid lights to flag drive at Marina Bay for Mercedes, as McLaren secured the constructors’ championship with a P3 and P4 finish.
Russell built an early lead over fellow front-row starter Max Verstappen to present a significant advantage to fend off a potential undercut, and then preserved that through the Singapore Grand Prix’s second phase through heavy traffic to successfully convert pole position to race victory.
Meanwhile, McLaren had to deal with a moment at the start – where Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made brief contact at Turn 3 – on the way to securing third and fourth. This proved to be a more than the necessary points needed to secure the constructors’ title. The Woking-based outfit had needed 13 points to seal the deal.
Verstappen’s start on soft tyres could not necessarily the disadvantage of starting on the dirty side of the grid, and had to settle P2 behind Russell into the opening corner – but then came under early attention from a fast-starting Norris.
Norris checked up at Turn 3 in an effort to avoid brief contact with Verstappen, and ended up clipping Piastri’s side through the corner exit as he barged his way though the order to move up to third.
Russell, knowing that he could lean more on his medium tyres in the opening stages of the race, began to open his lead over Verstappen and added about a half-second buffer over the four-time champion per lap.
Verstappen – struggling with downshifts – took those softs to the end of lap 19, by which point he was almost ten seconds behind Russell. Red Bull’s use of the undercut and Verstappen’s quick laps on the hard tyre ensured that, when Russell stopped for his own switch to the hards, the lead was now under four seconds.
For a time, it looked as though Verstappen was going to put pressure on the Mercedes driver; the lead was reduced to around 2.7 seconds, but Verstappen then locked up at Turn 14 and lost time. Norris, who had fallen to over four seconds behind Verstappen, was now back in the Red Bull’s mirrors.
Russell’s lead started to drop slightly to Verstappen after the 40-lap mark, as the leading trio began to catch up to a very long train of traffic. Yet, he was able to get through the backmarkers a little more easily than Verstappen, who was finding his rear braking difficult to manage. This opened the door for Norris to get within DRS range of the reigning champion, and followed him through the tailbacks.
With his priority now on defending from Norris, Verstappen had effectively been dropped by Russell, who was free to claim his second win of the season.
The Papayas finished third and fourth – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – which was enough to win the constructors’ championship. It will be interesting which McLaren driver will come out on top in the remaining six races.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli enjoyed a strong drive to claim fifth, while Charles Leclerc claimed sixth ahead of Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton in seventh. However, the seven-time world champion was noted for exceeding track limits after the chequered flag fell, an incident that will be investigated post-race.
Fernando Alonso just missed out on overtaking Hamilton at the finish, the Aston Martin driver crossing the line just 0.416 seconds behind in eighth. Ollie Bearman clinched two points for Haas in P9, with Carlos Sainz bouncing back after a double disqualification for Williams after qualifying to round out the top ten.
Post-race, Hamilton was given a five-second time penalty for “leaving the track without justifiable reason multiple times” while managing a brake issue on his Ferrari in the closing stages of the Singapore Grand Prix night race. This drops the seven-time world champion down to eighth position.
It was not the most thrilling race at Marina Bay but congratulations to George Russell in winning the Singapore Grand Prix. Hopefully this result will lead to a new contract with Mercedes. Come on Toto Wolff, sign the new deal.
As for McLaren, now that the constructors’ title has been secured, we can go for real racing and battle for the drivers’ championship. Best of luck to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the remaining six races.
Singapore Grand Prix, race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:40:22.367
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +5.430s
3 Lando Norris McLaren +6.066s
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren +8.146s
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +33.681s
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +45.996s
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +80.667s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +85.251s
9 Oliver Bearman Haas +93.527s
10 Carlos Sainz Williams +1 lap
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 lap
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +1 lap
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
14 Alexander Albon Williams +1 lap
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1 lap
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1 lap
18 Esteban Ocon Haas +1 lap
19 Pierre Galsy Alpine +1 lap
20 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap
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 in seventh. However, the seven-time World Champion was noted for exceeding track limits after the chequered flag fell, an incident that will be investigated post-race.
View all standings
Fernando Alonso just missed out on overtaking Hamilton at the finish, the Aston Martin driver crossing the line just 0.416s behind in eighth. 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).
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/russell-storms-to-victory-in-singapore-as-mclaren-seal-teams-championship.7cMITGtnc9fdxEaukmGVvI
A punchy start to the Singapore Grand Prix, which saw Lando Norris leap from fifth to third, led to friction between the two McLaren drivers as the drivers’ championship battle heats up.
Piastri, who started third and was quickly overtaken by his team-mate in a lunging move, was clearly annoyed when the Woking outfit decided not to impose any team orders.
“Yeah. I mean, that wasn’t very team-like like but sure…”
“So are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way or? What’s the go there?” Piastri said to his race engineer, Tom Stallard, who responded: “We’re looking at it. Let me get back to you.”
The incident was noted by the stewards, who later determined that no further action was required. McLaren agreed.
“No further action from the stewards,” Stallard reported to Piastri. “As a team, we can see Lando had to avoid Verstappen, so we won’t take any action during the race. We can review further afterwards.”
An unhappy Piastri quipped, “That’s not fair. I’m sorry, that’s not fair. If he has to avoid another car by crashing into his team-mate, then that’s a pretty **** job of avoiding.”
“Control the controllables, mate,” Stallard added.
All the while, Norris continued to extend the gap over his team-mate.
Going into the race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Norris sat 25 points behind the current championship leader, Piastri. McLaren has maintained its position of allowing the drivers to fight it out between themselves for the drivers’ championship title.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown explained, following the race, after the team clinched the constructors’ championship title: “They have driven brilliantly all season. You can’t win the constructors’ without two awesome racing drivers. As you can see, we are letting them race. That was a bit more of a nail-biter there, but they race hard, they race clean, they race to win. A lot of racing to go and hopefully a lot more victories for both of them.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/singapore-gp-start-ignites-mclaren-friction-as-oscar-piastri-protests-team-orders/10765376/
McLaren’s Lando Norris defended his bold first lap lunge during the Singapore Grand Prix after he clipped his team-mate Oscar Piastri while taking third position.
After starting the race from fifth on the grid, Norris took the chance to gain two positions at the start. He tapped the back of Max Verstappen into Turn 3 and, as a result, collided with his team-mate. While the Australian driver made his feelings known to the team, McLaren opted not to intervene as the stewards deemed that no further action was required.
“It was slippery. It was still wet in a lot of places. But it’s racing. I put it on the inside, I had a small correction, but nothing more than that,” Norris explained to Jenson Button after the race.
“It was good racing. I wish there was a few more overtaking opportunities today, but I felt like I did everything I could today. And yeah, I’m happy with that.”
Speaking about the race in general, Norris added: “Not too bad [after being ill earlier in the weekend]. I could go again! It was a tough race. Max didn’t make any mistakes.
“Whether I was feeling good or not, I gave it my all today and got close. A few chances were side by side and some good little bits of battling. But yeah, like I said, just too difficult to overtake, which is a shame because the pace was very strong today.
“And I would have loved to have tried to catch George and given him a little bit more pressure, you know. So I’m happy with today. I got forward two positions. We won as a team, the constructors once again. So I’m most happy about that.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-defends-first-lap-singapore-gp-move-against-oscar-piastri/10765418/
Oscar Piastri declined to give any real comment on the clash between him and his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris during the opening lap of the Singapore Grand Prix. Repeating that he’s yet to view the contact from other angles, he was keen to stay silent on the subject.
On the first lap, Norris lunged in a move to take third place, but as he lost traction, he collided with the gearbox of the Red Bull before hitting the front wheel of his team-mate’s car. This was reviewed by the stewards and it was deemed that no further action would be taken. McLaren came to the same conclusion and allowed its British driver to continue on his campaign that saw him take a podium finish.
Piastri was angered by this, making his thoughts known over team radio, and was later asked about the altercation by Sky Sports F1.
“Obviously a difficult race, difficult first lap, but I’ve not seen the replay obviously,” he said, not wanting to put his foot in it. “I just know from in-car, so I’ll go and have a look, but it’s obviously a great night for the whole team.
“Obviously not the race I was looking for, but for the whole team,” he continued. “Tonight is a culmination of a lot of hard work over not just this year but lots of years, so it’s a really proud moment for me to be a part of that and a proud moment for the whole team.”
When Zak Brown’s comments were put to him after he said the team’s drivers “race hard and clean”, the Australian once again kept his counsel. “Yes, I think we do. I don’t think obviously there was any intention of contact, but there was and again I need to look at the replay and see what exactly happened.”
Pressed on whether the moment set a new precedent for the rest of the season, he again chose to avoid the question. “I don’t know, I’ve not seen the incident from the TV cameras, so I need to look at that first before I say any comments.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/how-oscar-piastri-avoided-questions-on-clash-with-lando-norris-and-mclaren-team-orders/10765445/
George Russell hailed his victory in the Singapore Grand Prix as “amazing”, with the Mercedes driver delighted to make up for the “missed opportunity” of the 2023 race in which he crashed on the last lap.
After taking a surprise pole position in Saturday’s Qualifying, Russell put in a faultless performance on Sunday to convert that grid slot into his second win of the season, crossing the line 5.430s clear of closest challenger Max Verstappen.
Reflecting on his emotions following the race, the Briton acknowledged the loss of a potential podium two years earlier when he hit the barriers on the final lap as he chased down Lando Norris in a fight for P2.
“It feels amazing, especially after what happened a couple of years ago,” Russell said of his win. “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.”
While he appeared in control throughout Sunday’s Grand Prix, Russell conceded that his weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit had not started smoothly.
“Friday was a really tough day for me for many different reasons, and I wasn’t feeling comfortable,” the 27-year-old said. “But by the time we got to Q3 I felt great in the car, and that’s when it matters.
“Obviously I was a bit nervous at the beginning when I saw Max on the soft [tyre], but that first stint was great from us and we extended the gap.”
Pushed on whether the current balance of Mercedes’ car is one that works – and can be carried forward to the next round on the calendar in Austin – Russell responded: “I said it yesterday that if I were to make a list of all the races I thought we could win at this year, this would probably be right at the bottom.
“I think we need to sit down tomorrow and Tuesday to sort of understand why the performance was so good.
“I hope we can carry this through to the rest of the season, but I think realistically… Lando looked incredibly fast, he was within a second of Max the whole race, and around this circuit that’s not easy.
“We’ll take the performance for today, celebrate it, and I won’t think too much about Austin yet.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/it-feels-amazing-russell-thrilled-to-make-up-for-previous-missed-opportunity.Z6kQQFX6fNSdBORCyxyYR