Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay on Sunday, a rain-delayed race punctuated by safety cars for multiple crashes and breakdowns.
Perez beat pole-sitter Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to the first corner and dominated the race until the intermediate-shod field switched to slick tyresPerez then encountered engine issues that helped Leclerc to attack in the closing laps, but an error from Leclerc dropped him 2s behind after Perez had sorted out his engine settings.
However, Perez faces a post-race stewards’ investigation for a safety car infringement.
Verstappen attacked Norris into Turn 7 but locked up and blew the corner, rejoining ahead of Hamilton in eighth but with huge flatspots and was forced to pit for soft slicks. He rejoined in last position, but gained one spot when Russell hit Mick Schumacher’s Haas and suffered a puncture.
On slicks, Leclerc looked far more racy than previously, just as Perez reported engine issues. DRS was enabled, further helping Leclerc as he attacked for the lead in the closing stages.
As he looked poised to pass, Leclerc made a mistake and dropped out of DRS range, as Perez fixed his engine settings and pulled away. But Perez was facing an investigation from stewards for a safety car infringement and pushed flat-out to the finish to ensure his victory margin was over 5s just in case.
Sainz finished a distant third, ahead of Norris and Ricciardo. The Aston Martin of Lance Stroll was next up, while Hamilton gifted a spot to the recovering Verstappen when he overshot Turn 8 trying to pass Vettel. Verstappen passed Vettel on the final lap to grab seventh
