Formula 1 sprint in Singapore: Max Verstappen wins in the rain chaos, George Russell is eliminated

Max Verstappen won the Singapore sprint, which was marked by numerous failures. Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc completed the podium in the final short race of the Formula 1 season.

On the last lap, last year's world champion Lando Norris caused some annoyance for McLaren when the Brit collided with his teammate Oscar Piastri in the fight for fourth place and both cars spun off the track. Piastri then had to give up the race. McLaren CEO Zak Brown put his hands above his head.

The maneuver moved championship leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) up to fourth place, while Norris only finished eighth.

Due to heavy rain, the start on the street circuit was postponed at short notice. The previous week, Formula 1 in Malaysia experienced a debacle due to the rain. Due to special rain settings, numerous cars were no longer able to accelerate on the formation lap or had even stopped. Only after a software adjustment was the race able to begin an hour and a half late.

There were no similar problems in the sprint, but under difficult conditions and poor visibility at times, only 13 of the 22 cars that started made it to the finish. The most prominent failure was George Russell in the Mercedes, who, while in the lead, lost control of the car in the finish corner on the second lap and slid into the barriers.

A bitter mistake for the Brit: After he called for an attack on his World Cup-leading teammate Antonelli after his victory in Baku, he had to stop in Malaysia due to a technical defect. Now the next zero round followed. Antonelli leads the World Championship with 89 points ahead of Russell; the 20-year-old Italian can hardly take the title away with six race weekends left.

After the short race, qualification for the Grand Prix on Sunday (2 p.m.) will take place in the afternoon (3 p.m., live ticker SPIEGEL.de, TV: Sky).