F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2026 Recap
Max Verstappen waltzes to first-ever win in Singapore
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen picked up his first-ever win in Singapore as the Dutchman put in a commanding drive to win the Singapore Grand Prix 2026. Largely unbothered for the majority of the race barring right at the start of the race, Verstappen converted his 50th career pole position to a second win of the Formula One 2026 season. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second ahead of current championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who put in another strong drive and made the most of a shocking Ferrari strategy to move closer to his maiden Drivers’ Championship.
As the lights went out, it was Charles Leclerc with the better start as the Ferrari man seemed like he had done enough to snatch the lead heading into Turn 1 but Verstappen fought back as swept past Leclerc to retake the lead, keeping the Ferrari duo behind him. Carlos Sainz was one of the biggest gainers on the opening lap, making up three places to move up to P10 by lap 2. Behind Sainz, the Haas duo of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon were involved in a tight scrap with Bearman getting past his teammate, Ocon on lap 3 to slot into 11th place.At the front, Leclerc kept the pressure on Verstappen, staying under a second of the race leader while Lewis Hamilton was almost two seconds further behind. Bearman on the edge of the points continued to make moves as on lap 5, he made a late move on Sainz at Turn 8 and got past Carlos Sainz going inside the Williams driver to move up to P10.
The Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto became the first retiree of the race on lap 8 as Bortoleto complained of a gearbox issue and the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed. The Audi was pushed back to its garage and the VSC ended a lap later as Verstappen got going again with Leclerc right behind him. While Verstappen led the race, his teammate, Isack Hadjar was making up places after starting from the pitlane and was up to P17 by lap 9. Another driver who was making up places after starting at the back due to an engine penalty was George Russell, who was up to P12 by lap 15 as the Mercedes driver looked to break into the points. At the front, behind the top two, Lewis Hamilton was being pressured by Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris, who were within two seconds of Hamilton together with Antonelli right on the Ferrari driver’s gearbox. Ferrari called in Hamilton for his first stop on lap 19 and the seven-time world champion rejoined in P7 while Antonelli moved up to third place.
Hamilton moved to the Soft tyre after starting on the Mediums and Hamilton on his Soft pair was making moves, getting past Liam Lawson for sixth place with relative ease. Verstappen at the front was increasing his lead as Leclerc continued to struggle to keep up with the race leader. Antonelli was the second driver to pit on lap 24 and a quick stop from the Mercedes crew helped him come out in P6, just behind Lewis Hamilton. The pit stops continued as Leclerc pitted a lap late and came out just in front of his teammate which had left the McLaren duo in second and third place behind Verstappen. Hamilton complained to his team about having more pace than Leclerc although he was unable to pass him on track while Verstappen by lap 30 was over 19s clear of Norris in second place. On lap 31, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto brought out the Yellow Flag as he stopped at Turn 7 but managed to get himself into the run-off area, avoiding the need for a Safety Car.
Verstappen finally came in for his stop on lap 33 and a swift stop from the Red Bull crew saw him come out in the lead of the race with Lando Norris following him into the pits and coming out in P6 while Piastri was just over a second behind Verstappen at the front. Piastri came in for his stop on lap 34 and a slow stop from the McLaren crew saw him come out in sixth place well behind his teammate as Leclerc was once again up to second spot with Hamilton behind him. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed on lap 39 as Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin retired due to a clutch issue. Leclerc and Antonelli got a cheap stop out of the way but Russell, who came in for his first stop, suffered as he came in as the VSC ended and Russell rejoined in P10. Ferrari, surprisingly, kept Hamilton on track under the VSC to gain track position instead of pitting him.
With 20 laps left, Verstappen held a lead of 8.5s over Hamilton in second place while Leclerc was almost 8s further behind. Piastri pitted on lap 42 due to a front right puncture and the Australian rejoined in P6. Leclerc moved back up to second place on lap 46, easing past a much slower Lewis Hamilton, whose Soft tyres seemed like they were struggling to keep up with the rest in the final part of the race. Russell meanwhile was making places again as he was up to P9 on lap 48, getting past Pierre Gasly. Hamilton had Norris all over his back for the last nine laps and on lap 54, Antonelli picked off P4 from Norris as Hamilton went straight on at Turn 1 and Norris himself went wide that saw Antonelli sneak past Norris and was behind Hamilton. On lap 55, Antonelli got past Hamilton to move into the podium places. After keeping him behind for a couple of laps, Hamilton was unable to hold up Norris for any longer as Norris moved into fourth spot by making the move stick at Turn 10. The final couple of laps saw little to no action for the front three while Hamilton had to pull out his defensive moves again as Piastri was on his gearbox and on the final lap Piastri made the move stick after repeated efforts to move up to P5.
Verstappen meanwhile eased to his second win of the season, making it back-to-back wins and his first-ever win in Singapore in his 250th race start. Leclerc took second place with Antonelli finishing third with another big comeback drive. Lando Norris finished fourth ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri. Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, after a dubious strategy from his team with Liam Lawson, Nico Hülkenberg, George Russell and Isack Hadjar finishing in the points.With the completion of the Singapore Grand Prix, the triple header comes to an end with Verstappen going home as the biggest winner having picked up two wins and one second place finish in the three races. Racing will now move to Austin for the United States of America Grand Prix 2026 with Antonelli standing a chance to clinch the Drivers’ title in Austin should results go his way.
