Max Verstappen ended his drought at the Marina Bay Street Circuit with a dominant win. Here’s how the drivers fared at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.
The Dutchman was back at his dominant best as he won his first-ever Singapore GP ahead of Charles Leclerc and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Max Verstappen: 10
Grid Position: P1, Race Result: P1
Verstappen didn’t put a foot wrong (except that Sprint race start maybe) throughout the race weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
After securing both Sprint pole and race win, the Red Bull driver once again posted the fastest lap of Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
The 62-lap race was a dominant affair, as Verstappen led the race from lights to flag to bag his second win of 2026 on the trot, propelling him to P4 in the drivers’ standings. Heading into the US GP weekend, the Dutchman can very well start aiming for the vice-championship this season.
Isack Hadjar: 7.5
Grid Position: P22, Race Result: P10
Power unit issues impeded the French-Algerian racing driver throughout the Singapore GP weekend.
But when the RBPT-Ford engine in the back of his RB22 was performing, Hadjar was once again at his strongest for Red Bull.
A pit lane start was converted into a top-10 finish after a last-gasp move on Pierre Gasly sealed P10 at the chequered flag.
Considering George Russell, in the benchmark W17, finished just ahead on the road in ninth (from 19th), it was yet another solid result for Hadjar with the Milton-Keynes-based squad.
Charles Leclerc: 8
Grid Position: P2, Race Result: P2
Leclerc missed arguably his best chance to fight for the win at the very first corner of the very first lap. Despite a better start than Verstappen, he allowed the Red Bull driver to squeeze him into the first chicane in the second phase.
From thereon, as Verstappen kept his lead, the Soft tyres on Leclerc’s SF-26 took an understandable beating – meaning he could never really keep himself in the fight for the lead again.
Notwithstanding, it was a solid P2 for Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton: 6
Grid Position: P3, Race Result: P6
It was yet another woeful strategy call that put Hamilton on the back foot from the get-go. This time, however, the misery was self-imposed.
His first stint on the Mediums forced him to pit early for a set of Soft tyres and essentially onto a two-stop strategy.
But midway through the race, a chance to pit under the VSC was voluntarily abandoned by the Briton, which meant he was left out to do a 40+ lap stint on the softest rubber.
In the end, even the streets of Singapore weren’t enough to shield him from a late race onslaught from the likes of Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Antonelli.
He settled for only sixth at the chequered flag.
Kimi Antonelli: 8.5
Grid Position: P4, Race Result: P3
The Italian wasn’t the quickest driver out on track, but that shouldn’t detract from the stellar job Antonelli put in at the Singapore GP.
His opportunistic move on Norris and Hamilton, in the dying embers of the race, saw him secure his 14th podium of the season.
And with that, he can now seal his maiden F1 title and become the youngest-ever World Champion at Austin, in two weeks’ time.
George Russell: 7
Grid Position: P19, Race Result: P9
Russell was slated to start the 62-lap race on Sunday from the back of the grid, and it was a tough evening on the streets of Singapore, just as he had predicted.
While the Briton did have a strong start to the race, he quickly got stuck behind the dirty wake of the slower cars ahead of him.
In the end, the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg proved to be his biggest rival, and the Mercedes driver slotted right behind him at the chequered flag in ninth.
Lando Norris: 7
Grid Position: P5, Race Result: P4
Norris could have been on the podium for McLaren at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. But his move on a struggling Hamilton into Turn 1 turned out to be an unfortunate footnote in his race.
Compromised by the Ferrari missing its mark, it was Antonelli who swooped past the reigning F1 World Champion and into third in the dying embers of the 62-lap event.
After the race, Norris slammed the MCL40 for being an “impossible” car to drive – a far cry from the plaudits he had showered on the car after back-to-back wins at Hungary and the Netherlands.
He didn’t lack the pace to challenge at the sharp end of the field, but maybe he did lack the composure, snatched away by an errant package that led to his third straight GP without a top-three finish.
Oscar Piastri: 7
Grid Position: P6, Race Result: P5
It was a Singapore GP plagued by issues for the Australian. First, a slow puncture meant he had to endure an extra pit stop, eating away at his overall race time. Then, that very extra tyre change turned out to be a slow stop, all but ending his chances of fighting the likes of Leclerc and Norris.
That said, he benefitted from Hamilton’s miseries to score an extra position over the Ferrari driver at the chequered flag and take P5.
Liam Lawson: 8
Grid Position: P8, Race Result: P7
Lawson was impressive for Racing Bulls throughout the Singapore GP weekend. After securing a points finish during the Sprint race on Saturday, the Kiwi racing driver backed it up with a solid drive from inside the top 10 to improve one place on his grid slot and take the chequered flag in P7.
He heads into the US GP weekend, on the cusp of a contract extension with the Faenza-based squad, and a handy 10 points over the Alpine duo of Gasly and Colapinto.
Arvid Lindblad: 5
Grid Position: P9, Race Result: P15
The Singapore GP capped off a string of poor outings for Lindblad with Racing Bulls. He admitted to not being “quite at my full form these past few weeks,” after taking the chequered flag in 15th.
Nico Hulkenberg: 8
Grid Position: P10, Race Result: P8
After a couple of close misses with a top-10 finish at Baku and Sepang, the German driver got himself back into the points at the Singapore GP.
A stellar defence against Russell in the late phases of the race saw Hulkenberg seal off an impressive P8 at the chequered flag.
Gabriel Bortoleto: N/A
Grid Position: P14, Race Result: DNF
The Brazilian racing driver rounded off yet another disappointing outing with Audi at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. After falling backwards from a top-10 grid slot at Sepang, Bortoleto’s gearbox just gave up midway through the race on Sunday.
Pierre Gasly: 6.5
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: P11
Gasly finished just outside the points at Singapore with P11 – his fourth consecutive pointsless outing with Alpine.
The Frenchman was running in tenth approaching the end of the 62-lap race, but the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar snatched the final points-paying place away from Gasly at the chequered flag.
Franco Colapinto: N/A
Grid Position: P15, Race Result: DNF
Saturday was a tricky affair for the Argentinian as he struggled with the balance of A526 during qualifying. Knocked out of Q2, he went into the 62-lap race on the back foot compared to his team-mate Gasly, who was back in the top 10.
His evening spluttered to an early stop with a suspected transmission failure.
Oliver Bearman: 6.5
Grid Position: P11, Race Result: P12
Bearman was in fine form for Haas at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday. He got his elbows out early on his team-mate and then propelled himself into the top 10 after an audacious move on Carlos Sainz into Turn 8.
But much like the other midfield runners around him, he lacked the outright pace in his VF-26 to convert track position into a race result.
That said, it was a spirited drive from the young Briton, nonetheless vindicating the Banbury-based team’s decision to retain his services for 2027.
Esteban Ocon: 6
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: P13
Ocon’s race was similar to his team-mate’s, albeit without the opening phase bravado. The Frenchman admitted he lacked pace throughout the weekend, and especially over a race distance and was only able muster a 13th-place finish at the chequered flag.
Carlos Sainz: 5.5
Grid Position: P13, Race Result: P14
It was a spirited start to the 62-lap race for Sainz, who muscled his way past many cars and into the top 10.
That was, in fact, his plan – getting himself into the best position for a possible points finish – but the FW48 had other ideas. At the chequered flag, his Williams package just lacked the pace required to keep hold of his position, as he dropped down to 14th.
Alex Albon: N/A
Grid Position: P16, Race Result: DNF
The British-Thai driver has started to lose patience with Williams as the run of poor outings has kept on accumulating.
At Singapore, on Sunday, the FW48 was nowhere near the pace of the midfield, and Albon was forced into damage limitation from the get-go to ensure that he could even finish the race.
Reliability concerns prompted the Grove-based team to suggest a conservative approach out on track for the 62-lap race, and Albon was visibly frustrated when he retorted back with: “Then box? If we’re not here to go racing, then what are we here to do?”
He did eventually retire from the race, late on, with severe brake issues.
Fernando Alonso: 5
Grid Position: P20, Race Result: P16
It was yet another frustrating outing for the two-time F1 World Champion with Aston Martin in 2026.
The pace was there for the Spaniard, but the Honda power unit seemingly let him down again. Alonso was heard complaining on the team radio about the errant energy deployment from his works Honda PU that lost him much race time and positions during the race.
Lance Stroll: N/A
Grid Position: P21, Race Result: DNF
Stroll’s evening at the Marina Bay Street Circuit came to a premature end on Lap 39 as clutch issues on his AMR26 forced him to park up and retire from the Singapore GP.
Sergio Perez: 5
Grid Position: P17, Race Result: P17
Perez was able to extract the maximum from his Cadillac during the 62-lap race. While the former Red Bull driver is still nowhere near the points, he did put in a largely better shift than his team-mate who finished a lap down on Perez at the chequered flag.
Valtteri Bottas: 3.5
Grid Position: P18, Race Result: P19
Bottas was almost a second off the pace of his team-mate during qualifying on Saturday. The race, on Sunday, was no different as he struggled to keep up with Perez. The Finnish racing driver took the chequered flag in 19th, a staggering three laps down on the leaders.
READ MORE – Max Verstappen dashes Singapore curse with a dominant win at the Marina Bay Street Circuit
Discussion about this post