Verstappen won first-ever Singapore Grand Prix sprint race from pole
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 10, 2026
Verstappen won sprint
Max Verstappen won the first-ever Singapore Grand Prix sprint race from pole position and turned a strong Saturday into a clean result at Marina Bay. George Russell briefly led at the start before crashing out on the first lap, and Verstappen took control from there. Lewis Hamilton finished second and Charles Leclerc took third. Kimi Antonelli climbed from seventh on the grid to finish fourth, a solid recovery after a tougher starting spot. Liam Lawson followed in fifth, Ollie Bearman came home sixth and Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh. Lando Norris took eighth and scored a point. For Verstappen, the victory gave him the headline result in the circuit’s first sprint event and added another front-running performance to a session that began with him already in the best possible position.
Sprint qualifying order
Verstappen set the tone earlier by taking sprint pole with a 1:31.156 lap at Marina Bay, his first pole at the circuit. Russell came closest to matching him but still finished 0.120 seconds back in second. Leclerc locked in third, Oscar Piastri qualified fourth and Norris placed fifth. Hamilton took sixth, Antonelli qualified seventh and Lawson lined up eighth. Isack Hadjar earned ninth and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10. The order gave Verstappen the front spot for the sprint and put the rest of the field in chase mode from the start. It also created a clear line of contenders behind him, with Russell on the front row and Leclerc, Piastri and Norris stacked close enough to keep the first laps interesting.
Marina Bay disruptions
Sergio Pérez brought out a red flag in sprint qualifying when he hit the barriers in SQ1, and the session lost more time when SQ2 was delayed by a software issue. Those interruptions shaped the night before the sprint field even took the grid, and they added to the significance of Marina Bay hosting its first sprint event ever.
