Max Verstappen claimed a commanding victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, leading from start to finish to continue his late-season resurgence. Kimi Antonelli finished third to extend his championship lead over Mercedes teammate George Russell to 89 points, moving closer to his maiden Formula 1 world title.
By F1 correspondent Michael Butterworth
SINGAPORE, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Red Bull's Max Verstappen continued his late-season resurgence with a commanding victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, while Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli strengthened his grip on the 2026 Formula 1 world championship with third place.
Starting from pole position for the 50th time in his career, Verstappen led every lap around the Marina Bay Street Circuit to finish ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with Antonelli completing the podium after a late charge through the field.
The victory followed Verstappen's triumph at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last weekend and Saturday's Singapore Sprint, extending the Red Bull driver's winning streak to three races across the two weekends.
"It has taken a while [to win in Singapore], but I think this race was very good," said Verstappen, who had never previously won any race at the venue before Saturday's Sprint.
"The last few races have been really positive for us. It's just great to see, and we gave a lot of motivation to the team to deliver even more results.
"It's a really good group of people, I really enjoy working with them, and hopefully we can have a bit more fun to the end of the year."
More significantly for the championship, Antonelli extended his advantage over Mercedes teammate George Russell to 89 points with just 150 still available, leaving the Italian within touching distance of his maiden world title.
Russell, who had crashed out of Saturday's Sprint while leading, recovered from 19th and last on the grid to finish ninth, but now faces an increasingly improbable task to overhaul his teammate.
Verstappen's victory was built on a decisive defensive move at the start. Despite a sluggish getaway, the Dutchman moved across to cover Leclerc's challenge into the first corner and retained the lead, with Lewis Hamilton holding third ahead of Antonelli and the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Leclerc initially kept the pressure on, remaining within a second of Verstappen through the opening laps, but the Red Bull gradually pulled clear as Ferrari struggled to match its rival's pace.
Hamilton, the highest-placed driver to start on medium compound tyres, was the first frontrunner to stop, switching to softs on lap 19 in what appeared to be an aggressive two-stop strategy.
Leclerc followed six laps later, emerging narrowly ahead of his teammate on medium tyres. Despite Hamilton having the faster compound and repeatedly requesting more pace, Ferrari kept the pair in position as they pursued different strategies.
Verstappen, meanwhile, extended his opening stint until lap 33 before switching from soft to medium tyres, retaining the lead comfortably as his rivals completed their stops.
A second virtual safety car on lap 39, caused by Lance Stroll stopping with a clutch problem, presented Ferrari with another strategic opportunity. Leclerc pitted for fresh soft tyres, as did Antonelli, but Hamilton made what would prove a costly decision to stay out on his increasingly worn set.
With a substantial tyre advantage, Leclerc swept past Hamilton for second on lap 46 and began reducing Verstappen's lead, although the gap remained too large to mount a serious challenge.
Verstappen had a worrying moment on lap 52 when he briefly ran wide at the final corner, but continued to maintain a comfortable advantage over the Ferrari.
Behind them, Hamilton's race unraveled as his soft tyres lost performance. Antonelli, Norris and Piastri all closed rapidly on the seven-time world champion, who had little grip left to defend his position.
Hamilton ran wide while defending against Norris on lap 54, allowing Antonelli to pass the McLaren driver for fourth. The Italian then overtook Hamilton for third on the following lap, with Norris also passing the Ferrari driver to take fourth.
Piastri, who had made an additional stop after suffering a slow puncture, completed Hamilton's late collapse by passing him on the final lap to claim fifth.
Hamilton eventually finished sixth, having started third, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson took seventh ahead of Audi's Nico Hulkenberg. Russell finished ninth, with Isack Hadjar completing the points positions after starting from the pit lane following problems on Saturday.
Antonelli's podium came after the Mercedes mechanics were forced to rebuild part of his braking system on the grid after a sensor problem emerged before the start.
The result also underlined Mercedes' contrasting fortunes, with Russell having been forced to start from the back after exceeding his permitted allocation of power unit components.
Yet while Verstappen celebrated another victory, the championship picture increasingly favored Antonelli, whose latest podium moves him another step closer to becoming Formula 1's youngest ever world champion.
The next round of the 2026 Formula 1 season is the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 25. ■
