SINGAPORE — Red Bull's Max Verstappen won an incident-packed sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix after Mercedes driver George Russell crashed out of the lead on the opening lap.
Russell was leading in tricky conditions, with half the track dry and half wet, when he got a little too wide at the final corner at the end of the first lap. He lost control of his Mercedes, which spun across the track into the inside wall before bouncing back again to the outside, with the rest of the field somehow avoiding him.
The race saw further drama on the final lap when the McLarens collided as Lando Norris tried to pass Oscar Piastri at Turn Five. The incident promoted Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli to fourth place.
In combination with Russell's retirement, the result extends the Italian's championship lead to 89 points. The chaotic sprint underlined the challenge of the mixed conditions in Singapore, where the Singapore sprint debut posed an unprecedented challenge for drivers and widened the gap from the 84-point margin Russell had downplayed earlier in the week.