Max Verstappen of Red Bull won a wet and chaotic sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday after Mercedes' George Russell crashed into the wall while leading at the end of the opening lap.
Four-time Formula One champion Verstappen held off Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton to finish 2.50 seconds ahead, with Charles Leclerc third. The two McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, collided and spun on the final lap while running fourth and fifth.
A heavy downpour 10 minutes before the scheduled start delayed the race by 30 minutes. All cars started on intermediate tyres, while some sections of the Marina Bay circuit were drier than others. The drivers completed two formation laps behind the safety car.
At the official start, Russell got away better than Verstappen, who had taken pole. However, the Briton's lead did not last long when he lost control after touching the slippery white line at the final corner of the opening lap. Russell's car slid sideways and hit the pit lane wall, bringing out the safety car.
It was another setback in a luckless season for Russell, who will start from the back of the grid in Sunday's Grand Prix due to an engine penalty.
"It was a miscalculation," Russell told Sky Sports. "I went through the corner, had more battery energy than I thought, which pushed me a little wider than expected and I touched the white line. Silly mistake. Big consequences."
That promoted Hamilton, who made a superb start from sixth, to second after passing Ferrari teammate Leclerc and the two McLarens.
The big beneficiary of Norris and Piastri's final-lap clash was championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who inherited fourth in the Mercedes after starting seventh.
Fifth went to RB's Liam Lawson, sixth to Haas' Oliver Bearman, seventh to Audi's Nico Hulkenberg, and Norris recovered to finish eighth, completing the points-scoring group.
