George Russell claims first Singapore GP victory, McLaren retain constructors' title

If George Russell's dominant performance from pole to chequered flag at the 2025 Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix on Oct 5 was a signal of his ambitions in the sport, then the Briton can certainly count on the rallying cry from his countryman Elton John.

The British pop icon kicked off his post-race show at the Padang with the song, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, and if Saturday night was all right for Russell after clinching pole, then Sunday was spectacular as he claimed his first race win in Singapore with a flawless drive from start to finish.

Crossing the line in 1hr 40min 22.367sec, Russell became the sixth different winner in six editions of the night race here since 2018. It was also his second victory of the season after the Canadian Grand Prix in June.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was second in his Red Bull, 5.4sec adrift and McLaren's Lando Norris rounded up the podium in F1's first "heat hazard" race.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren finished the 62-lap race in fourth.

Norris and Piastri's results also secured McLaren back-to-back constructors' titles. The Woking-based outfit needed just 13 points in Singapore to confirm their 10th championship crown.

"If I sat down and made a list at the start of the season of the races I thought we could win, this would be right at the bottom," said Russell shortly after his win.

"I think we need to sit down… to understand why the performance was so good. I hope we can carry this through to the rest of the season."

While he is unlikely to fight for the 2025 title as he sits in fourth spot, the 27-year-old Briton proved that he has what it takes to mount a future title tilt after mastering the notoriously difficult Marina Bay Street Circuit. The track has proved to be a daunting challenge for many, including four-time world champion Verstappen, who has never won here.

Such was Russell's dominance that his lead stretched to over nine seconds at one stage of the race.

It was also a psychological boost for him, as victory came in sweltering conditions of 33 deg C heat and 81 per cent humidity on a tight and twisty 4.927km track, where he crashed on the final lap in 2023 while in third place.

Russell said in the post race press conference: "This track has not been my best friend over the years, and that's often been through my own doing. But as I said yesterday, I'm a very different driver today to the one I was a couple of years ago, and I feel more and more complete, more confident and I know exactly what I need to do."

"Of course, I was nervous before the race, as you'd expect, but I didn't feel any additional nerves or any additional pressure. It just felt like another race, and I knew I had a chance to win, and I felt comfortable with that.

"I said it for a while, I feel ready to fight for a championship, I feel ready to take it to the next step."

While Russell was cool as a cucumber in the heat, tensions rose between McLaren pair Norris and Piastri, despite McLaren sealing back-to-back constructors' titles with six rounds to go.

Norris had an aggressive start as he first overtook Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Piastri heading into Turn 3, brushing the back of Verstappen and, crucially, nudging Piastri out wide.

The Australian was furious with the move, and was heard on the team radio saying: "Are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way? I mean that wasn't very team-like, but sure."

Piastri, who had to settle for fourth, saw his advantage over Norris cut to 22 points in the title race, which continues at the United States Grand Prix in Texas on Oct 19.

Norris said after the race: "It was slippery, but it's racing. I put it on the inside, had a small correction but nothing more than that. It was good racing. I felt like I did everything I could today but I'm happy with that."

When asked about the incident later, he added: "I don't think there was anything wrong that I did. Of course, I misjudged a little bit how close I am to Max, but that's racing. The last thing I want is to make contact with my teammate."

Verstappen was runner-up for a second year running as he fought off relentless pressure from Norris to finish ahead of the McLaren duo for the third consecutive race, which was a boost to the Dutchman's recently reinvigorated championship fight.

In Singapore, he came through difficulties with his gear shifts that saw him lock up dramatically at Turn 2.

With six races remaining, the Red Bull speedster is third in the drivers' standings with 273 points, with Piastri (336) and Lando Norris (314) occupying the top two spots.

Verstappen said: "I think the whole race (was) quite difficult, more difficult than I hoped for. We have few things that we need to understand why these things went wrong today, but even then around here, even if you have more pace, you can't pass without anything crazy happening so I think second was the maximum result."

Kimi Antonelli was a distant fifth in the other Mercedes, with Charles Leclerc finishing sixth ahead of his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton.

The Briton was later docked a five-second penalty for repeatedly leaving the track as he struggled with a braking issue, dropping him to eighth with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso moving up to seventh.

Oliver Bearman of Haas was ninth while Williams' Carlos Sainz rounded up the top 10.