Tydd St Giles driver enjoys Grand Prix glory at Singapore

George Russell ended his run of misfortune in Singapore as he claimed his second win of the season in a dominant weekend.

Russell fended off a charging Max Verstappen to clinch victory and solidify Mercedes’ second place in the Constructors’ Championship.

However, the race weekend was not plain sailing for Russell as in the Friday practice sessions, the driver from Tydd St Giles was off the pace in the morning and crashed in the afternoon.

Russell found his form in the Saturday practice session, setting a time that placed him third and would prove a strong indication for what was to come in qualifying.

Under the Singapore lights, Russell had blistering pace throughout qualifying with him easily making it through the first round and topping the second session.

In the top-ten shootout, Russell was dominant as his initial lap was enough to take pole and could not be matched by any of the championship challengers.

Russell then extended his advantage on his final run, extending his lead by seven hundredths of a second to secure his second pole position of the season.

At the Marina Bay street circuit, the polesitter has won 10 of the last 16 Grand Prix but Russell’s hopes of continuing that statistic were threatened by rain, which hit the circuit before lights out.

Despite this, Russell managed to get a strong getaway over his foe Max Verstappen to extend his lead to two seconds by the end of the opening lap.

In the early stages of the race, Russell extended his lead to over nine seconds before he came in to pit onto the hard tyre.

This stop dropped him to third for a brief time but as other cars pitted, Russell was able to regain his lead.

The second stint was looking to be equally as dominant as the first for Russell but the Briton encountered heavy amounts of traffic due to lapped cars, which brought him into Verstappen’s reach.

However, issues for the Dutchman meant Russell was able to maintain first place and cross the line with a five-and-a-half-second lead, beating his Singapore demons from 2023 where a crash in the final laps denied him a chance of victory.

Russell’s fifth win of his career extends Mercedes’ advantage over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Standings with that championship having been won by McLaren at this race weekend.

After the race, Russell said, “I’m really pleased with our victory this evening. This track has not always been my best friend over the years, maybe from my own doing.

"We didn’t start the weekend in the best way either but come Q3 yesterday, I felt really good in the car and that carried on into today.

“It was such a long race, so I was very glad to see the chequered flag, but we ultimately had it all under control.

“The goal for us is to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship this year. This result helps us in that quest, but we still have six races to go.

“We will need to be at our best if we are to achieve that but hopefully we can carry this form into the double header of Austin and Mexico City.

“Congratulations to McLaren on their Constructors’ title and to Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains too.”

The 2025 Formula One season continues for the United States Grand Prix on October 17-19.