Singapore GP 2025: Russell wins as Norris and Piastri clash

George Russell won the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay from pole position, finishing 5.430 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull. Lando Norris was third and Oscar Piastri fourth, enough to hand McLaren the constructors' title with six races to spare, but the two McLaren drivers left the night arguing about the first lap. It was Russell's second win of 2025 and the fifth of his career.

How Russell won in Singapore

Russell took pole by 0.182 seconds from Verstappen and kept the lead into Turn 1 without drama. Verstappen had started on softs from the dirty side of the grid, got away poorly and spent the opening corners defending. By lap 10 Russell had a four-second cushion, and nobody got close enough to test him after that.

Verstappen's evening was a fight with his own car. He reported downshift problems early on, locked a front tyre in the second half and lost around two seconds, then told his engineer the rear felt like a handbrake. Norris caught him in the closing laps and got within half a second, but never found a way past.

Norris vs Piastri: the first-lap clash

Norris started fifth, passed Kimi Antonelli off the line and then went for Piastri in the opening corners. He clipped the back of Verstappen's car, banged wheels with his team-mate, damaged his front wing and came out third. "That wasn't very team like," Piastri said on the radio. The stewards looked at it and took no action, McLaren told Piastri it would be discussed after the race, and no swap was ordered.

Piastri's evening did not improve. A problem on the left rear made his stop last 5.2 seconds, and he crossed the line about two seconds behind Norris. He had won the qualifying duel by 0.069% of a lap; Norris took the one that pays. That leaves their head-to-head at 9–9 in qualifying and 9–8 to Norris in races, in our count.

The other teammate duels

Mercedes. Antonelli finished fifth, passing Charles Leclerc late on despite reporting a steering issue on the straights. He still has not beaten Russell in a race this year: on F1 Duels, the Mercedes duel reads 16–2 to Russell in qualifying and 14–0 in races.

Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton outqualified Leclerc, sixth to seventh, and passed him late in the race before his brakes faded and the place went back. He then took a five-second penalty for leaving the track repeatedly. The stewards accepted the brake problem was real but did not treat it as an excuse, and he dropped to eighth behind Fernando Alonso. Leclerc leads Hamilton vs Leclerc 13–3 in races.

Williams. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz qualified 12th and 13th, then were both disqualified for a DRS infringement on their rear wings. Sainz started 18th and Albon from the pit lane. Sainz took the last point, passing Isack Hadjar on the final lap, while Albon came home 14th. Albon still leads their duel 9–4 in races on F1 Duels.

Further back, Alonso's seventh place came with another qualifying win over Lance Stroll, which makes it 17–0 on Saturdays in our count.

What it means for the title

Norris's third place cut Piastri's lead from 25 points to 22, at 336 to 314. Verstappen is third on 273, 63 behind the leader. McLaren's tenth constructors' title, their second in a row, is settled; the drivers' title is still a matter between two people in the same car, with Verstappen as the outsider. Every verdict from the weekend is on the Singapore GP duels page.