Verstappen Finally Conquers Marina Bay: First Singapore Grand Prix Win on His 250th Start Completes a Perfect Weekend
SINGAPORE — Max Verstappen won the 2026 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday night, October 11 — his first victory in Singapore. On his 250th grand prix start, the 29-year-old Dutchman converted pole position into a controlled win, leading all 62 laps to finish 7.335 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli third, 24.573 seconds behind. It completed a perfect weekend — sprint pole, sprint win, grand prix pole and the grand prix itself — and was his 73rd career victory, his second in a row after Sepang the previous weekend.
The win was not as serene as the scoreline suggests. Verstappen could not talk to his team by radio for the entire race — he could hear engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, but not the other way around, and the team switched to alternative communication. Leclerc made the sharper start, but Verstappen braked late into Turn 1 and kept the lead. Ferrari had been on for a double podium: under a Virtual Safety Car triggered by Lance Stroll's clutch-related retirement, both Ferraris were called in; Leclerc stopped successfully and finished second, but Hamilton missed the pit entry, struggled on worn tyres and was passed by Antonelli and both McLarens to finish sixth. Team boss Fred Vasseur said the pair had been running second and third and a P2–P3 was there for the taking. Hamilton apologised on the radio: 'Sorry boys, I let you down today.'
McLaren's Lando Norris delivered a harsh self-assessment after another error-strewn weekend — fourth in the race after a late move on Hamilton backfired, a day after colliding with team-mate Oscar Piastri in the sprint. He called McLaren 'the worst of the top four' at present, with Red Bull now within seven points of third-placed McLaren in the constructors' standings. Antonelli extended his championship lead to 102 points, moving within reach of his first world title.
Official figures put the weekend's three-day attendance at 301,294. For Singapore, the weekend meant more than racing: the world's only F1 night street race ran under haze and a heat-hazard declaration, completed under close air-quality monitoring. 'It's taken a while, but I think this race was very good,' Verstappen said afterwards. Marina Bay had been one of the few blanks on his map; it is filled now.
Sources: Compiled from Reuters' October 11, 2026 race reports, the FIA final classification (summarised by Danamic), and grand prix weekend attendance reporting.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 维斯塔潘驾驶红牛赛车出战2025年新加坡大奖赛，Liauzh 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）
