Max Verstappen has won the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in his career on Sunday.
The win completes a perfect weekend where he also finished first in the sprint and was on pole for both races.
But while Verstappen celebrated, Lewis Hamilton was left to rue a costly strategy blunder that saw him throw away a potential podium finish.
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Red Bull’s Verstappen finished 7.335 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with championship leader Kimi Antonelli third for Mercedes after 62 laps under the lights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The four-time world champion had never won or even achieved a pole position in nine previous attempts going back to his debut for Toro Rosso in 2015.
“It has taken a while but I think this race was very good,” said a delighted Verstappen, who was celebrating back-to-back wins after triumphing in Malaysia seven days ago, his first victory of 2026.
“We had pace when we needed to have it on the soft tyre and the medium. So of course very happy to win here,” the Dutchman added after claiming the top step of the podium on his 250th grand prix start.
“I think the last few races have been really positive for us, we have a lot of motivation in the team to try and deliver even more results.
“Hopefully we can have a bit more fun until the end of the year.”
The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were fourth and fifth, ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who dropped from third on the grid to sixth after botching his tyre strategy.
Liam Lawson’s RB was seventh, Nico Hulkenberg eighth in the Audi and George Russell, who started from the back of the grid because of engine penalties, came home ninth in his Mercedes.
“It was a very tough race out there, but really happy with a podium in the end,” said Antonelli, who increased his championship lead to 102 points over Russell.
Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull, who started from the pit lane, rounded out the points scorers in 10th.
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“We were quite strong at the beginning of the race, then we started degrading,” said Leclerc.
“We did a different strategy to Max, I gave it my all and I don’t regret anything.
“I don’t think there was much more to do today.”
Verstappen was put under immediate pressure from the quick-reacting Leclerc as he launched from pole position at lights out.
The Dutchman had to swoop across to his left to cut off the Ferrari driver and stay ahead into turn one.
Leclerc stuck to the rear of Verstappen through the first few laps as his teammate Hamilton kept Antonelli at bay.
Hamilton was the only one of the front-runners to start on the slower medium tyres and he was the first to pit, taking on fresh soft rubber on lap 19.
Verstappen left it until lap 32 to stop, and once all the top six had pitted, the order was the same as at the start.
Antonelli and Leclerc dived for a second time under a virtual safety car caused by Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin breaking down.
But Hamilton bafflingly decided to stay out on much older tyres, despite being called in by his team, an aberration that would cost the seven-time world champion a podium finish.
Leclerc on fresh rubber quickly passed Hamilton for second.
Norris attempted to overtake Hamilton at the start of lap 55 only to lose his place to Antonelli, who then picked off the Ferrari to move up to third.
“I managed to take advantage of the fight with Lando and Lewis, and very happy with that,” said Antonelli.
Norris did get past Hamilton, whose tyres were shot, on the next lap followed by Piastri.
“Sorry boys. I let you down today with that strategy,” said Hamilton on team radio.
“My call, and I lost us valuable points. I’ll try and make up for it in the next one.”
Hamilton was reportedly given permission to skip media duties after the race due to feeling unwell, with an image showing him down on his haunches in pit lane.
He spoke further in a Ferrari statement.
“Under the VSC, the team called me in but I missed the entry. After that, I decided to stay out and try to hold track position to the end but in the closing laps, I was struggling massively with tyre degradation and lost three places, finishing P6, which doesn’t reflect the pace we had in the car today,” he said.
“A painful lesson today, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made.
“Not every call will work out, and I can accept getting it wrong but I’m sorry for the team for the points we lost today. They put so much into every weekend, and I wanted to deliver more for them. I’ll continue to put the work in and come back fighting at the next race.”
Earlier, team boss Fred Vasseur had confirmed to Sky Sports that Ferrari’s instructions to Hamilton were clear.
“We called him in, we called them both to pit (under the VSC), and it would have been P2 and P3 because we were P2 and P3 on track and he missed the pit entry,” Vasseur said. “Honestly, it’s a bit of a shame because he’s losing a podium.
“It was crystal clear on the radio. But now let’s be focused on Austin. The performance this weekend was ok. We have to be focused on the future.”