F1 Singapore GP: George Russell wins from pole as McLaren takes constructors' crown

0 17 4 minutes read

f1-singapore-gp:-george-russell-wins-from-pole-as-mclaren-takes-constructors'-crown — F1 Singapore GP: George Russell wins from pole as McLaren takes constructors' crown

George Russell clinched victory from pole at the Singapore Grand Prix as McLaren clinched a second Formula 1 world constructors’ championship victory on the trot.

Russell built an early lead over fellow front-row starter Max Verstappen to present a significant advantage to ward off a potential undercut, and then preserved that through the race’s second phase through heavy traffic to successfully convert pole position.

Meanwhile, McLaren had to deal with a moment of contretemps at the start – where Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made brief contact at Turn 3 – on the way to securing third and fourth. This proved to be a more than the necessary points haul needed to secure the constructors’ title; the Woking squad had needed 13 points to seal the deal.

Verstappen’s start on soft tyres could not necessarily nullify the disadvantage of starting on the dirty side of the grid, and had to fold in behind Russell into the opening corner – but then came under early attention from a fast-starting Norris.

Norris checked up at Turn 3 in an effort to avoid brief contact with Verstappen, and ended up clipping Piastri’s side through the corner exit as he barged his way though the order to move up to third.

Russell, knowing that he could lean more on his medium tyres in the opening stages of the race, began to open his lead over Verstappen and added about a half-second buffer over the Dutchman per lap.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

Verstappen – struggling with downshifts – took those softs to the end of the 19th lap, by which point he was almost 10 seconds behind Russell. Red Bull’s use of the undercut and Verstappen’s swift laps on the hard tyre ensured that, when Russell stopped for his own switch to the hards, the lead was now under four seconds.

For a time, it looked as though Verstappen was going to put pressure on the Mercedes driver; the lead shrunk to around 2.7s, but Verstappen then locked up at Turn 14 and ceded time. Norris, who had fallen to over four seconds behind Verstappen, was now back in the Red Bull’s mirrors.

Russell’s lead started to drop slightly to Verstappen after the 40-lap mark, as the leading trio began to catch up to a very long train of traffic. Yet, he was able to get through the backmarkers a little more easily than Verstappen, who was finding his rear braking difficult to manage. This opened the door for Norris to get within DRS range of the reigning champion, and followed him through the tailbacks.

With his priority now on defending from Norris, Verstappen had effectively been dropped by Russell, who was free to claim his second grand prix win of the season.

More to follow