(Photo: Steve Etherington via Mercedes)

George Russell Wins Singapore Grand Prix, McLaren Seals 2025 Constructors’ Championship

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George Russell led almost every lap to win Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, Oct. 5.

He was followed home by Max Verstappen and a closely following Lando Norris.

The second McLaren of Oscar Piastri finished in fourth, ceding another two points off his championship lead.

“It feels amazing, especially after what happened [here] a couple of years ago,” Russell said post-race. “We don’t really know where this performance came from, but really happy. I was a bit nervous at the start when I saw Max on the soft, but that first stint went really well.”

The third and fourth positions for McLaren allowed the team to seal the 2025 constructors’ championship.

“Unbelievable team back at the factory, and the leadership Andreas has provided,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said. “It’s pretty awesome to go back-to-back.”

Kimi Antonelli finished in fifth, followed by Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Ollie Bearman and Carlos Sainz rounding out the top 10.

Russell started from pole and was joined on the front row by Verstappen. With a history of heated words between the two, this front row posed the potential for some fireworks on the opening lap.

Championship leader Piastri occupied the third spot on the grid, two places ahead of his teammate and main title rival Norris. The second Mercedes of Antonelli split the two McLarens, lining up in fourth. The two Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc were also in the mix, starting from sixth and seventh, respectively.

Showers of rain one hour before the race created some uncertainty about what tires each driver would opt for, as several sections of the track were still too damp for slick dry tires only 30 minutes before lights out. Despite the risk, the formation lap revealed that all drivers had chosen the faster dry tires, with Verstappen throwing caution to the wind by selecting the softest compound, hoping for a better launch off the line.

All cars had a clean start, with Norris being the biggest beneficiary, claiming two positions to put himself ahead of Piastri. However, Norris’ front wing suffered some damage as a result of hitting his teammate.

By lap 10, Russell had built a gap of more than 4.5 seconds to Verstappen, with Norris a further 1.5 seconds behind. Having started on the softer tires, Verstappen would have to stop first.

Yuki Tsunoda was the first to stop on lap 14, changing to the white-striped hard compound tire. Gabriel Bortoleto also stopped, but all other cars remained on track.

On lap 17, Norris was asked to “box to overtake Verstappen,” but it appeared to be an attempt to trick Red Bull into a pit stop, as Norris was told to “stay out” shortly before the pit entry.

Three laps later, Verstappen stopped for the hard compound tires, slotting into an area of clear air when he returned to the track. With the undercut being powerful in Singapore, all eyes were on Norris to see if he would stop as well, but he stayed out.

Norris took to the pits for hard tires at the end of lap 26, rejoining over 3.5 seconds behind Verstappen. The earlier stop for the Red Bull had given it an extra two seconds, due to the advantage of fresh tires. However, Norris’ tires were now seven laps younger, which could come into play later in the race.

Having led by almost 10 seconds before the pit stops, Russell’s lead was slowly being whittled down by those behind, the hard tires seemingly not as effective on the Mercedes. By lap 35, the gap to Verstappen was less than three seconds, with Norris a further 4.5 seconds behind in third. Piastri remained in fourth, around 19 seconds ahead of Leclerc.

A mistake by Verstappen allowed Norris to close up to the Red Bull, and the two cars ran within one second of each other for almost 20 laps. Despite having the advantage of DRS, Norris was unable to get past.

Formula 1 Singapore Results

The next race for the 2025 F1 season is at Circuit of the Americas on Oct. 19, beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

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Peter Molloy began following Formula 1 during the 1985 Australian Grand Prix. He cheered for a certain Ayrton Senna, who was driving the same black and gold colors as a toy F1 car that Pete had been given. Pete continued to be a fan of Senna throughout his childhood. Fast forward many moons, and Peter now combines significant journalistic experience with decades of watching F1 to cover the latest on-track and off-track action.