McLaren was crowned Formula 1's top team at the Singapore Grand Prix on a tricky day for all three of the main contenders for the drivers' title, while Kiwi driver Liam Lawson finished 15th.
George Russell won the race in dominant style overnight as McLaren secured the Formula 1 constructors’ championship with six races to go.
Russell stayed in control from pole position to take his and Mercedes' second win of the year ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who held off Lando Norris for second place despite struggling with car problems.
Verstappen may have got the better of the two McLaren drivers, but it was little help to his title defence, since he didn't make significant inroads into their large points advantage.
Norris said it was “a shame” to spend much of the race staring at the back of Verstappen's car, while standings leader Oscar Piastri was aggrieved over Norris colliding with him as he overtook at the start.
Meanwhile, Kiwi driver Liam Lawson finished in 15th position following a failed pit stop strategy.
Lawson's race engineer Ernesto Desiderio said the strategy was a "bit of a gamble", Stuff reports.
"We did everything we could to catch a safety car that never came. I'm sure you understood that in the car," he told Lawson over the radio.
The Racing Bulls driver qualified 14th for the race, but started 12th after the two Williams cars were disqualified.
It had been a difficult weekend in Singapore for the 23-year-old, who crashed into the wall in both FP2 and FP3.
Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar finished 11th.
Russell makes it right
“We don’t really know where this performance came from,” admitted Russell, who said he'd expected Mercedes to struggle on Singapore's tight, twisty street circuit.
It was a personal milestone for Russell, who crashed on the last lap while fighting for the podium places in Singapore in 2023.
“It feels amazing, especially after what happened a couple of years ago. It was a bit of a missed opportunity, but we more than made up for it today," he said.
Norris banged wheels with his McLaren teammate Piastri, who finished fourth, as he overtook at the start. Piastri complained to the team over the radio about Norris' driving.
“Are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way?” the Australian asked.
"I had a small correction but nothing more than that. It was good racing," Norris said after the race.
Norris cut into Piastri’s standings lead for the third race in a row. The Australian now leads Norris by 22 points, with Verstappen 41 further back.
Piastri finished outside the top three in back-to-back races for the first time since the Australian Grand Prix in March.
Hamilton's brakes fail
Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli recovered to finish fifth after a poor start. Lewis Hamilton was closing on the Italian near the end when the brakes on the seven-time champion’s Ferrari failed.
Leclerc in the other Ferrari then passed Hamilton for sixth. The British driver only just held onto seventh in his ailing car ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, but lost the place anyway after getting a five-second penalty for going off-track while struggling with his brake problem.
That lifted Alonso to seventh and dropped Hamilton to eighth, while Oliver Bearman was ninth for Haas and Carlos Sainz, Jr. took a point in 10th despite having to start near the back of the grid for a technical infringement.
Heat hazard
It was the first F1 race to be officially declared a “heat hazard” by the governing body, the FIA, under new rules that came in this season.
The heat and humidity in Singapore have long been a challenge for drivers, who were required to have cooling equipment fitted in their cars. Some, like Verstappen, chose not to wear the associated cooling vest.
- Additional reporting by 1News
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