(Reuters) – Team by team analysis of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, the 15th round of the 22-race Formula One season (listed in current championship order):
RED BULL (Max Verstappen 5, Sergio Perez 8)
Red Bull’s run of 15 successive wins and Verstappen’s 10 in a row came to an end. Verstappen started 11th on the hard tyre and last year’s winner Perez 13th in his 250th race. Both stayed out when the safety car was deployed and then pitted for mediums, Perez on lap 40 and Verstappen on 41. Perez was handed a five second penalty for a late clash with Williams’ Albon. Verstappen increased his lead over the Mexican to 151 points.
MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 3, George Russell 16)
Hamilton moved up to third in the championship with his 196th career podium. Russell started on the front row but lost out to Ferrari’s Leclerc, on soft tyres, into turn one. He crashed on the final lap while in third place and trying to pass Norris after he and Hamilton both pitted with 18 laps to go for fresh mediums during a virtual safety car phase. Hamilton had to give a place back to Russell and Norris on lap one.
FERRARI (Carlos Sainz 1, Charles Leclerc 4)
Sainz, on medium tyres, started on pole for the second race in a row with Leclerc third on the grid, using his soft tyres to seize second at the start from Russell. Sainz then managed the race and kept Norris defensively within DRS range at the end to stave off Russell. Leclerc’s race was essentially sacrificed from the off and he lost out in his double-stacked pitstop during the safety car period when he was held due to traffic. The win was the first under team boss Fred Vasseur.
ASTON MARTIN (Fernando Alonso 15, Lance Stroll non starter)
Alonso, seventh on the grid, was the sole Aston Martin driver after Stroll withdrew following his big crash in qualifying. The Spaniard collected a five second penalty for crossing the white line at the pit lane entry when he came in during the safety car period. He served the penalty during the virtual safety car on lap 45 but the rear jack did not engage properly at the stop and he came out 17th. This was Aston’s first non-scoring race of the season.
MCLAREN (Lando Norris 2, Oscar Piastri 7)
Norris started fourth with a big car upgrade while Piastri lined up 17th after being caught out by Stroll’s crash. Norris used DRS, helped by former team mate Sainz slowing to ensure he kept within range, to stay ahead of the chasing Mercedes in the tense closing laps. The second place was his third in six races.
ALPINE (Pierre Gasly 6, Esteban Ocon retired)
Ocon’s 27th birthday gave him little to celebrate after starting eighth. He retired at turn two on lap 43 while in sixth place due to a suspected gearbox issue. Gasly went from 12th on the grid. The cars double-stacked in the pits on lap 20 during the safety car phase. Gasly was passed by Verstappen five laps from the end but gained a place back when Russell crashed.
WILLIAMS (Alex Albon 11, Logan Sargeant 14)
Sargeant triggered the safety car when he hit the wall, leaving debris and smashing the front wing. He made it to the pits and continued but suffered high tyre wear later on. Albon might have finished eighth but contact with Perez dumped him out of the points.
HAAS (Kevin Magnussen 10, Nico Hulkenberg 13)
Magnussen, starting sixth, scored Haas’s first point since the Austrian sprint in July. He pitted on lap 20 for hard tyres during the safety car period and again on lap 44 for softs, securing 10th when Russell crashed. Hulkenberg lost out when he pitted behind Magnussen on lap 20 and re-emerged 15th.
ALFA ROMEO (Guanyu Zhou 12, Valtteri Bottas retired)
Zhou started from the pit lane after overnight changes and pitted on lap two for hards. The safety car wrecked his strategy and he pitted for mediums. Bottas retired after having to stop for precautionary reasons.
ALPHATAURI (Liam Lawson 9, Yuki Tsunoda retired)
Stand-in Lawson, replacing the injured Daniel Ricciardo, took his first points and the highest scoring finish so far this season for the team. Tsunoda retired on the opening lap with a damaged sidepod and cooling system after contact.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)
