Verstappen sweeps Singapore

Max Verstappen took pole, led all 62 laps and crossed the line 7.335 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc. Add his win in the wet sprint and it's a full double, from a driver who arrived with 71 career wins. One stop, on lap 32, and he was never headed.

Behind him, the strategy split. Leclerc, second on the grid, and Kimi Antonelli, fourth, both stopped twice: laps 24 and 39 for Leclerc, 23 and 39 for Antonelli. Both took the second stop under the virtual safety car on laps 39-40. Most of the field kept it simple. Fourteen of the 18 finishers stopped once, seven on soft-medium, seven on medium-soft.

Lewis Hamilton ran second after the stops. Then Leclerc went past him on lap 46, and Antonelli took third on lap 54. Hamilton, third on the grid, finished sixth.

The big climbs came from the back. Isack Hadjar started 22nd, sent to the pit lane by the stewards, and finished tenth. That's ten top-ten finishes in a row. George Russell started 19th after grid drops for power unit elements and finished ninth. Leclerc's second place ended a run of six races without a podium, and he set the fastest lap too, a 1:35.202 on lap 41.

Red Bull brought a revised front wing, built for more local load, and a bigger rear brake exit duct for Singapore's heavy braking. Both may have played their part in Verstappen's weekend.

The title picture barely moved. Antonelli's third place left him on 340 points, 102 clear of Russell, with six rounds and 150 points left. He needs 49 more to clinch: two wins or five fifth places would do it. His title chance sits around 95 percent. Verstappen, 119 back, and Russell are each at about one in a hundred.