Sports · Motorsport · 1 day ago
Verstappen wins wet Singapore sprint and expects a tight qualifying battle
Max Verstappen won the first Formula 1 sprint race held in Singapore on Saturday.
Heavy rain delayed the start by more than 30 minutes, and nine cars retired.
Mercedes driver George Russell passed Verstappen at the start but crashed on the final turn of the opening lap, giving Verstappen the lead back.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished second and Charles Leclerc was third.
Verstappen said his starts have been poor throughout the season and that Red Bull needs to understand what is going wrong.
A weak start could cost him in Sunday’s Grand Prix, where passing is difficult on the narrow Marina Bay street circuit.
He also expects a closer fight for pole in the main qualifying session because drivers can make more runs on soft tyres.
The Singapore Grand Prix qualifying session is next, followed by Sunday’s race.
Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix sprint on Saturday after rain delayed the start by more than 30 minutes.
Mercedes driver George Russell passed Verstappen at the start but crashed on the final turn of the opening lap, allowing Verstappen to retake the lead.
Verstappen said his starts had been poor throughout the 2026 season and that Red Bull needed to understand and fix the problem.
He expects the main Grand Prix qualifying session to be more competitive because drivers can make multiple runs on soft tyres.
Lewis Hamilton finished second and Charles Leclerc third; nine cars retired, a record for a sprint race, according to CNA.
- Who
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing driver
- What
- Won the Singapore Grand Prix sprint and warned of a close battle in qualifying while highlighting his poor starts.
- When
- Saturday, October 10, 2026
- Where
- Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
- Why
- Verstappen said his starts had been poor all season and expected rivals to be closer in the standard qualifying format.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Yeah, I mean, the whole year my starts have been terrible,
So we need to really do something different and try to understand what our issues are.
It's a target, but for sure it will be a tough battle,
Heavy rain delayed the scheduled start by more than 30 minutes.
Russell passed Verstappen at the start, then crashed on the final turn, bringing out the safety car.
Verstappen won ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc.
Verstappen said Red Bull needed to address its starting problems and predicted a tougher qualifying battle.
- Sprint winner
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
- Second and third
- Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, both Ferrari
- Race date
- October 10, 2026
- Circuit
- Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
- Retirements
- Nine cars, a record for sprint races according to CNA
Sources
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