(Motorsport) Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez showed great consistency to secure an impressive win at the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc while reigning champion Max Verstappen finished a lowly seventh. To say that the race was chaotic would be an understatement, with multiple crashes, retirements and cars locking up and hitting the barriers. Perez, who had to wait for two and a half hours to be officially crowned winner after being investigated for leaving too much distance between himself and the safety car was given a five second penalty, but the Mexican was 7.5 seconds ahead of second place Leclerc and kept his first place.  

The Singapore Grand Prix was taking place for the first time in three years as the last two editions were cancelled due to COVID-19. The race was forced to end in the two hour time limit and couldn’t complete the 61 laps that were originally scheduled due to multiple interruptions including rain that delayed the start of the race by an hour. Verstappen, who had the opportunity to win his second World Championship depending on certain circumstances working in his favour was on course to finish on the podium before making an error that forced him into the pits for a tyre change. 

However, the result will only delay the inevitable and Verstappen now has a more realistic chance of winning the title in Japan next weekend despite his lead being reduced to 104 points. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished third despite an obvious lack of pace while McLaren had a good race, finishing fourth and fifth respectively while both the Alpine’s were forced to retire due to engine failures. Seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton finished ninth after losing third place to Carlos Sainz and was fortunate to finish the race after hitting the barrier at Turn 7. As for Aston Martin, Lance Stroll finished sixth while Sebastian Vettel was eighth in an impressive race of the British manufacturers.

Singapore GP Final Result, Top 10

1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4) Lando Norris, McLaren
5) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
6) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
7) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
8) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
9) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
10) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri

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