Singapore, 11 October 2026: Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday, his first victory at Marina Bay, to complete a weekend sweep of pole and wins in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver controlled the race under the floodlights despite a radio that stopped working, and said the win made up for several near-misses at the circuit over the years.
“It’s an amazing feeling to finally win here in Singapore. We’ve raced here many times and there have been a few missed opportunities, so to finally stand on the top step is really special,” Verstappen said.
“The car has been working well all weekend and I’ve felt really comfortable. We had strong pace throughout the race and although I had to push at times to maintain the gap, once I was in clean air I could really get into a rhythm.”
On the radio problem, he added: “GP did a great job and seemed to know what I wanted to ask him most of the time!”
Start was the danger
Red Bull knew the start would be critical, and the team admitted afterwards that starts are an area where it still has work to do. Verstappen kept the lead off the line and then managed the race from the front.
“To come away with Pole and victory in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix is a tremendous result for the whole Team,” the team said, adding that the result followed a strong weekend in Sepang and showed the car was competitive on different types of circuit.
Hadjar scores from the pit lane
Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar started from the pit lane after a difficult weekend with car problems and worked his way up to 10th to score a point.
“It was a fun race tonight. Coming from the back and passing cars is always enjoyable,” he said. “It was similar to Baku, where the Soft was much better than the Medium, so going onto it for the second stint helped a lot. It took a lot of hard work from everyone on my side of the garage to get that one point, but a point is a point for the Team.”
Hulkenberg holds off Russell
Further back, Nico Hulkenberg finished eighth for Audi after starting 10th. The German gained places at the start and then resisted heavy pressure from Mercedes driver George Russell in the closing laps. He started on the Medium tyre and switched to the Soft on lap 30, setting his fastest lap of 1:37.055 on lap 60.
“What a way to finish the weekend,” Hulkenberg said. “It was all about managing the tyres and staying focused, especially in the closing laps with George piling on the pressure. It wasn’t easy, but we managed to hold on and bring home some important points.”
Audi scored four points in the race to add to two from the Sprint, the first time the team has scored in both on the same weekend. Its total rose to 23 points, seven behind seventh place in the constructors’ standings.
Racing Director Allan McNish called it “one of the best races I have seen Nico drive”. Gabriel Bortoleto, who started 14th, retired early in the race with a suspected gearbox problem.
On to Austin
Singapore was the last race of a triple-header. The championship moves next to the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
“Austin is a very different circuit, and a very bumpy one, so we’ll see how we get on when we arrive there,” Verstappen said.
