Motorsports
Night Shift
George Russell wins in Singapore as McLaren locks in constructors’ crown six races early
George Russell stormed to victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday night, delivering Mercedes its first win of the season as McLaren sealed the Formula One constructors’ championship with six rounds to spare.
Russell started from pole and held firm against Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, pulling away in the later laps to win by 10 seconds. It was a sweet redemption for the British driver, who famously crashed out of the race two years ago while chasing victory.
“It feels amazing, especially after what happened a couple of years ago,” said Russell. “We don’t really know where this performance came from, but I’m really happy. A one-hour, 45-minute race here in Singapore is never easy with the heat and humidity, but we brought it home.”
McLaren’s double podium finish, with Norris in third and Oscar Piastri in fourth, was enough to secure back-to-back constructors’ titles for the Woking-based team—its 10th overall. The combined 27 points from Norris and Piastri matched Red Bull’s 2023 record for the earliest team championship win.
“They’ve driven brilliantly all season,” said McLaren CEO Zak Brown. “You can’t win the constructors’ without two awesome drivers. We let them race hard, clean, and to win.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for McLaren. At the start, Norris aggressively dived past teammate Piastri at turn one, brushing wheels in a fiery opening exchange. Piastri, who leads the drivers’ standings, fumed over team radio: “So are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way? That’s not fair.”
The team refused to issue team orders, leaving Piastri visibly frustrated, though Norris insisted afterward, “It was good racing.”
Verstappen finished second for Red Bull, wrestling with gearbox downshift issues that made the race “more difficult than I hoped.” Despite the struggles, the Dutchman remains third in the title fight, 63 points behind Piastri.
Further down the order, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli finished fifth, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton dropped to eighth after a late-race brake issue and a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, allowing Fernando Alonso to slip into seventh. Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten.
The tropical night race also marked Formula One’s first official “Heat Hazard” designation, requiring teams to provide liquid-cooled vests due to Singapore’s punishing climate. Air temperatures held at 28°C—lower than expected—so some drivers, including Verstappen, opted not to wear them.
