Carlos Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix with a controlled drive for Ferrari that ended Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s winning run.
Sainz managed the race expertly from the front while Verstappen fought back to fifth place after starting in 11th on a difficult weekend for Red Bull.
Sainz led McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton nose to tail across the line after George Russell crashed out of third place on the last lap.
Russell and Hamilton gambled on a late pit stop for fresh tyres and charged back up to Sainz and Norris but could not pass before Russell’s late error.
It was a dramatic climax to an intriguing race that ebbed and flowed throughout its close to two-hour running time, with a safety car, a virtual safety car and some close racing through the field, a fitting event to mark the ending of Verstappen’s all-time record of 10 consecutive victories.
Sainz’s second win for Ferrari after last year’s British Grand Prix was the first time a Red Bull had failed to win since Russell won the penultimate race of last season in Brazil.
Verstappen went into the race on hard tyres, aiming to run a long first stint and hope to leapfrog cars in front as they made their pit stops.
He stayed patient and picked off slower cars in front of him on his fresher tyres, and by the closing laps was putting pressure on Leclerc, but just ran out of time to try to pass.
Hamilton’s third place vaults him up to third in the championship, 10 points ahead of Alonso, who had a difficult race in Singapore.
Pierre Gasly (Alpine) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) Sergio Perez (Red Bull) Liam Lawson (Alpha Tauri) & Kevin Magnussen (Haas) completed the Top 10.
