Less than 24 hours after competing in the sprint race under mixed weather conditions, the drivers were back on the starting grid for the full-length FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE AIRLINES SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX 2026. This time around, it was completely dry, and Max Verstappen was back on pole position, looking to finally add the Marina Bay Circuit to his list of venues at which he has won a grand prix.
Charles Leclerc had a stronger start from P2 on the grid, looking like he was going to take the lead into the first corner. Max Verstappen was very late on the brakes on the outside, allowing him to cling to the lead. Leclerc maintained pace with Verstappen for many of the opening laps to keep the gap within a second, but eventually the soft tyres started to drop off, and Leclerc lost pace.
Oliver Bearman provided much of the action in the opening laps. He was involved in a wheel-to-wheel battle with teammate Esteban Ocon over P11. This ended with him getting by the outgoing Frenchman. A few laps later, he made a bold overtake on Carlos Sainz to promote himself into the points-scoring positions.
On lap eight, Gabriel Bortoleto parked up at the pit exit with a gearbox failure. This brought out the first virtual safety car of the race, but it was too early for teams to make an early pit stop, and the pit lane was closed so marshals could clear the stranded Audi.
While the leaders had started the race on soft tyres, Lewis Hamilton tried the alternate strategy by starting the race on mediums. But the medium tyre seemed to lack the pace and longevity of the softs. By lap 18, the team was aware he didn’t have the pace for “plan C”, moving him to “plan B”, pitting him for softs.
Kimi Antonelli was the first of the lead soft runners to pit on lap 24, followed by Leclerc a lap later. Leclerc rejoined narrowly ahead of his Ferrari teammate. There were hopes of a virtual safety car during the pit window when Franco Colapinto stopped due to a mechanical issue at turn seven, but he was able to get off the circuit on his own. The remaining leading soft runners had to pit under the green flags.
A virtual safety car did come on lap 39 when Lance Stroll came to a halt with a clutch issue. This allowed Leclerc and Antonelli to both make their second stops back onto the soft tyres at a reduced speed under the VSC. George Russell also made his first stop under the VSC, albeit it ended during the stop, so he didn’t see as much benefit as the others.
Critically, Hamilton did not pit under the virtual safety car. This was his strategy gamble, but it left him with a lot of laps to make it to the end of the race on the softs, or he would be forced to make a second stop. On lap 42, Leclerc got onto the back of Hamilton, cruising by to P2.
With ten laps remaining in the race, Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli were on the back of the slow-moving Ferrari. Norris attempted to overtake in the first corner, but Hamilton ran wide, and Norris fell prey to Antonelli. Antonelli got by Hamilton the following lap to get a podium-scoring position. He had to be careful in the final laps, having used up all of his track limits warnings early in the race. It looked as though he may get a penalty after running wide while chasing down Hamilton, but the stewards may have shown leniency due to a temporary brake issue reported by the Mercedes youngster.
Hamilton did his best to cling onto P5 in the final laps. He gave Oscar Piastri a masterclass in defensive driving, holding the McLaren driver behind for as long as he could. Eventually, the Australian got by the Ferrari. It was ideal for Piastri, who had to make an unexpected second stop due to a slow puncture after only seven laps on the medium tyres on lap 42.
Max Verstappen crossed the finish line in the top position, earning his first Singapore Grand Prix victory. It was not all easy for the Dutchman, suffering from a radio issue for the second half of the race, leaving him mostly unable to communicate with his team. He was joined on the podium by Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli.
The teams and drivers will now get a much-earned break before heading to the Western Hemisphere for another triple-header. The first on the list will be the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. The World Drivers’ Championship title could be decided in that race, with Kimi Antonelli leading the championship by 102 points over his teammate.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 62 | 1:42:00.785 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 62 | +7.335 | 18 |  | |
| 3 | 62 | +24.573 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 62 | +40.506 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 62 | +49.644 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 62 | +53.188 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 62 | +81.666 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 62 | +83.386 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 62 | +84.677 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 62 | +90.862 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 12 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 13 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 15 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 16 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 17 | 60 | +2 Laps | |||
| DNF | 59 | ||||
| 19 | 59 | +3 Laps | |||
| DNF | 36 | ||||
| DNF | 29 | ||||
| DNF | 7 |
| 1 | K. Antonelli | 340 |  | |
| 2 | G. Russell | 238 | -102 | |
| 3 | L. Hamilton | 229 | -111 | |
| 4 | M. Verstappen | 221 | -119 |  |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 215 | -125 |  |
| 1 | Mercedes | 578 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 444 | -134 | |
| 3 | McLaren | 339 | -239 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 332 | -246 | |
| 5 | Racing Bulls | 100 | -478 | |
