Grand Prix in Singapore

LIVE: Who will win the Singapore Grand Prix?

George Russell started from pole and took the lead to the finish.(Bild: AP/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver George Russell celebrated a commanding start-finish victory in the Formula 1 night race in Singapore - ahead of world champion Max Verstappen and both McLaren cars. The British team has thus secured the constructors' title ahead of time.

In humid conditions on Sunday, the Briton drove to his second success of the year, with defending champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull taking second place ahead of McLaren driver Lando Norris. His colleague Oscar Piastri lost a few points in the championship battle in fourth place, but was able to celebrate winning the constructors' championship early with his team.

The Papaya team can no longer be displaced from the top spot in the remaining six race weekends. In the individual standings, leader Piastri is now 22 points ahead of Norris, who has made up three points. Verstappen is still 63 points adrift in third place. While the Dutchman once again failed to triumph for the first time in Singapore, Russell celebrated his fifth Grand Prix victory.

(Bild: EPA/FAZRY ISMAIL)

"It feels great"
"It feels great. We don't know where the performance comes from, but I'm happy," said Russell, visibly exhausted. The 27-year-old had to kneel down in a cold sweat after the winner's interview, and Norris, who was in poor health, also looked exhausted. "It was a tough race. I gave it my all, but it's difficult to overtake here," he said. Verstappen defended his second grid position, but was unable to threaten Russell. "The whole race was more difficult than I expected," said Verstappen about the drivability of his car.

Rain before the start
It rained lightly in Singapore in the hours before the Grand Prix, but the Marina Bay Street Circuit dried out before the start. Verstappen was the only one of the top drivers to plan an attack on pole-setter Russell with the fastest soft tire compound, who, like the two McLaren drivers, opted for the medium tire set. However, Russell confidently defended his top position in the "Silver Arrow", while behind him Norris made a strong start to aggressively push past Piastri with a slight contact. "That wasn't very team-oriented," complained the audibly frustrated Australian on the radio.

Russell pulled away in the lead, behind him Norris was unable to get past Verstappen with a slightly damaged front wing. Meanwhile, Piastri was unable to keep up with his two championship rivals and lost a few seconds. Verstappen completed his only pit stop on the 20th of 62 laps. The McLaren duo did not counter directly, but waited to change tires. However, the different strategy did not lead to any changes in the pecking order; a short time later, all the drivers had fitted the hardest set of tires in the same order. A slow stop by Piastri had no negative consequences for the championship leader.

George Russell(Bild: AFP/MOHD RASFAN)

Hardly any overtaking maneuvers
There were hardly any overtaking maneuvers on the street circuit despite four short DRS zones. Sauber driver Nico Hülkenberg spun into the emergency exit 17 laps before the end of the race. The German was able to continue and avoided a safety car phase, which might have made the Grand Prix more entertaining. Russell completed his laps at the front with a respectful gap, while Verstappen experienced a scary moment behind him due to a braking incident. Norris closed the gap again thanks to several lappings, but was unable to get past the four-time champion.

In two weeks' time, the premier class of motorsport continues in Austin/Texas, where one of the three remaining sprint weekends is on the program.