Verstappen Wins Singapore Sprint as Russell Crashes

Max Verstappen of Red Bull won the sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday, 10 October (FIA provisional classification; RaceFans). A sprint is a shorter race, run on some Formula 1 weekends, that awards points to the first eight finishers, from eight points for the winner down to one for eighth (FIA provisional classification; Total Motorsport). This one ran over 20 laps, about 98 kilometres; the main Grand Prix is on Sunday (FIA provisional classification).

None of the decisions by the race stewards, the officials who rule on incidents, changed the finishing order (FIA stewards). The FIA had not posted its final classification by 10 a.m. ET, but the stewards' rulings left the order in its provisional classification unchanged (FIA). They took no further action over the last-lap collision between the McLaren team-mates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, finding that neither driver was wholly or predominantly to blame (FIA stewards). Arvid Lindblad, who drove the wrong way for about 100 metres after a spin, was also cleared: the stewards said he could not turn his car round where it had stopped and that no cars were coming, so it was not unsafe (FIA stewards). Oliver Bearman of Haas, who finished sixth, took longer than the 1 minute 52 seconds allowed between two control lines on the track at 4:36 p.m. local time, before the delayed start, but the stewards took no further action because he had "slowed down significantly to allow another driver to pass" (FIA stewards). They found Sergio Pérez mainly to blame for his collision with Lance Stroll and said a five-second time penalty would have been right, but applied none because Pérez was not classified, meaning he did not complete enough laps to be listed, and such penalties do not usually turn into places on the starting grid (FIA stewards). Both Pérez and Stroll were out of the race (FIA provisional classification). The stewards also summoned Alexander Albon, Gabriel Bortoleto and Valtteri Bottas over a collision between them; no decision had been published by 10 a.m. ET, and all three were out of the race, so it cannot change the finishing order (FIA).

It was Verstappen's first win of any kind at a Formula 1 event in Singapore (RaceFans). He finished 2.6 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari, who also set the fastest lap (FIA provisional classification). Hamilton's team-mate Charles Leclerc was third and Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes fourth (FIA provisional classification; RaceFans).

A heavy thunderstorm hit the track shortly before the scheduled start, 5 p.m. local time, which is 5 a.m. ET, and delayed it by half an hour (Crash.net; ESPN schedule). George Russell of Mercedes, who started second, took the lead from Verstappen at the first corner with a fast getaway (FIA starting grid; Formula1.com; Crash.net). At the start of the second lap he touched the painted white lines on the damp track, spun into the barriers on the main straight and then slid back into the path of the cars behind. The others avoided him, though spray was making it hard to see (Crash.net).

The race then ran for six laps behind the safety car, a course car that keeps the field in line at low speed, while the track dried and other crashed or broken-down cars were cleared (RaceFans). Stroll's Aston Martin hit a barrier after contact with Pérez, and Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto retired; Colapinto's car stopped suddenly on the track with a technical failure (RaceFans). At the restart Albon ran into the back of Bortoleto in a collision that also caught Bottas, and all three retired (RaceFans).

From there Verstappen drove away. Hamilton, who started sixth, had gained three places with what RaceFans called a brilliant start and finished second (FIA starting grid; RaceFans). Leclerc struggled with his tyres in the final laps but kept third place, and Antonelli came through from seventh on the grid (RaceFans; FIA starting grid).

On the last lap the two McLarens, fighting over fourth place just behind Leclerc, collided when Norris tried to pass Piastri on the inside. Both spun, and Piastri's car hit the barrier (RaceFans). "Sorry about that," Norris told his team on the radio. "I thought I was fully alongside" (RaceFans). Piastri played it down: "From where I sit, it's for fourth and fifth for a sprint race so I'm not that bothered either way" (RaceFans).

Norris recovered to eighth, the last place that scores a point, while Piastri was out of the race but still listed 14th because he had completed enough laps, 19 of the 20 (FIA provisional classification; RaceFans). The stewards found that both drivers had contributed to the collision and took no further action, so Norris keeps eighth and one point (FIA stewards). Nine of the 22 cars did not finish (FIA provisional classification).

The crash was costly for Russell. Crash.net said he had been on course for eight points and left with none, another blow to his fading hopes of the world championship; Antonelli, his team-mate, led the drivers' standings by 84 points before the sprint (Crash.net). Antonelli's fourth place is worth five points (FIA provisional classification).

Russell will also start Sunday's race from the back of the grid, meaning last in the starting order, because he has used more engine parts than the rules allow this season (FIA stewards; Crash.net). The stewards gave him a 40-place drop, ten places for each of four extra parts, including a fifth engine (FIA stewards).

Qualifying for Sunday's race is on Saturday at 9 p.m. Singapore time, which is 9 a.m. ET, and the race starts on Sunday at 8 p.m. local time, 8 a.m. ET (ESPN schedule).