Perez wins Singapore with commanding performance

Sergio Perez has taken a lights-to-flag victory in a Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix delayed by an hour due to heavy rain pre-race.

Charles Leclerc finished second to ensure the championship continues for at least another week as Max Verstappen had his worst race of the season to come home seventh.

Heavy rain in the hours before the race forced officials to delay the start procedure, ultimately pushing the start back just over an hour.

It was a prudent move with monsoonal conditions leaving the circuit with significant standing water in places.

Hot conditions saw that dry quickly once conditions eased, the field able to start on intermediate rubber as opposed to full wets.

Verstappen made a poor start, falling down the order as team-mate Perez led into the opening corner.

He was followed by the two Ferraris, first Leclerc then Carlos Sainz as Lewis Hamilton dropped to fourth.

A battle into the Singapore Sling between Verstappen and Kevin Magnussen saw the former lose a spot to Daniel Ricciardo briefly, quickly recovering that to end the opening lap in 11th.

Magnussen ceded the spot to Verstappen exiting Turn 5 a lao later, the Haas driver pulling aside for the Red Bull driver who quickly moved by Lance Stroll soon after.

A lap later, Yuki Tsunoda fell victim as Verstappen rose to ninth.

Out front, Perez headed Leclerc by just under a second after three laps, the pair having extended a five-second advantage to Sainz in third.

The Spaniard made contact with Hamilton at the opening corner, the Mercedes driver leaving the road as a result in an incident investigated but dismissed by the stewards.

During his early stoush with Vettel, Magnussen picked up damage to his front wing end plate, for which he was shown the meatball flag on Lap 7.

Soon after, Guanyu Zhou stopped at Turn 5, the Chinese driver having been squeezed into the wall by Nicholas Latifi, who picked up a puncture for his efforts.

To clear the stricken Alfa Romeo Sauber, which was parked in the escape road, the Safety Car was deployed.

When Latifi returned to the pits, he too became a retirement with damage to the left-rear suspension on the Williams.

Verstappen moved by Sebastian Vettel soon after the Safety Car was withdrawn on Lap 11 to move the championship leader up to eighth.

That became seventh with a move on Pierre Gasly half a lap later, diving up the inside at Turn 13.

After a period of calm fell over the race, an engine problem for Fernando Alonso drew the Virtual Safety Car when he stopped at the Singapore Sling on Lap 20.

Mercedes was the only team willing to gamble in an attempt to capitalise, boxing for a set of medium tyres.

It was a brave move, the W13 skating around as he struggled for grip on cool tyres – a situation not helped by the Virtual Safety Car limiting his ability to drive quickly to generate temperature.

His sector times weren’t woeful; slower than the intermediate runners but on rubber that was not yet in its operating window.

Times on his second lap were also down on the grooved tyre runners, but closer than they’d been the lap prior.

On Lap 25, Russell was matching those around him in terms of sector times, suggesting the crossover point from inters to slicks had been reached.

A mistake from Alex Albon saw the Williams driver nose into the wall at Turn 8, losing the nose of his car in the process.

The Virtual Safety Car was called for to retrieve the wing as he pitted for a replacement.

On Lap 27, Esteban Ocon retired with another Alpine engine failure, triggering the return of the Virtual Safety Car.

During the interruption, Hamilton and Sainz found themselves playing games, the former claiming he was brake tested on one occasion.

There was a similar situation played out between Verstappen and Norris behind them as the Red Bull driver narrowly avoided the McLaren under braking for Memorial Corner.

The race having resumed, on Lap 33 Hamilton slid off the road, damaging his front wing as he nosed into the barriers at Memorial Corner.

He was able to recover and remained on track, though his damaged wing left his car trailing sparks.

The pit stop sequence began properly on Lap 35, Leclerc pitting from second but overshooting such that it resulted in a 5.3s stop.

Hamilton also stopped, replacing his damaged nose and fitting a set of medium tyres, as Ferrari had for Leclerc.

Perez pitted from the lead next time by, followed by Sainz and Verstappen, the latter told to do the opposite of Norris.

Tsunoda was next to find the wall, the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver told to switch the car off after burying it in the Tecpro barrier, damaging the front-right wheel.

It triggered the Safety Car, Russell taking the opportunity for another set of new tyres while those who hadn’t yet stopped took the opportunity.

Ricciardo moved onto the soft tyres in the process, the Safety Car helping his chances as he emerged sixth.

Racing resumed on Lap 40 with Perez leading Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, and Verstappen to the green flag.

The Dutchman quickly attacked Norris into Memorial Corner, badly locking up and taking to the escape road as a result.

He avoided contact with the barriers but needed new tyres due to the flat spots, swapping onto the soft rubber.

Russell’s difficult afternoon continued when he picked up a right-rear puncture after contact with Mick Schumacher into Turn 1 on Lap 41.

As that was happening, Race Control noted a Safety Car infringement for race leader Perez, who now had Leclerc locked on to his gearbox as the Mexican reported drivability issues with the RBPT-Honda power unit.

DRS was finally enabled as the leaders worked Lap 43, Leclerc in range of Perez.

The pressure at the front was enormous, the Red Bull driver twice pinching his left-front brake as the pursuing Ferrari remained within half a second.

A mistake from Leclerc saw the gap rise to more than a second, stabilising there as the immediate threat to Perez dwindled.

With a post-race investigation and potential penalty hanging over him, Red Bull instructed its driver to put the hammer down and he soon began extending his advantage out front.

Mercedes pitted Russell with nine minutes remaining in what had become a time-certain affair.

Running well down the order, there was no need to do so beyond denying the point to Perez, who held it at that stage.

A mistake from Hamilton on Lap 58 saw the Mercedes driver run wide, opening the door for Verstappen to move through and climb to eighth.

In the lead, Perez had opened a 7.3s advantage as he began the final lap, safeguarding the place should a 5s penalty be levied post-race.

Leclerc followed him to the line from Sainz, then came Norris and Ricciardo in his best result of the season.

The top 10 was completed by Lance Stroll, Verstappen who recovered to seventh with a late move on Vettel, Hamilton, and Gasly. Russell recorded fastest lap, thereby denying the bonus point to anyone in the top 10.

Verstappen is now 104 points clear of Leclerc at the top of the championship while Red Bull holds a 137-point gap to Ferrari in the constructors’ competition.

Formula 1 moves to Suzuka and the Japanese Grand Prix next weekend, opening practice commencing on Friday.

Results: Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix

Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship

Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship