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Charles Bradley

F1 Grand Prix race results: Sergio Perez wins Singapore GP

Perez beat pole-sitter Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to the first corner and dominated the race until the intermediate-shod field switched to slick tyres.

Perez then encountered engine issues that helped Leclerc to attack in the closing laps, but an error from Leclerc dropped him 2s behind after Perez had sorted out his engine settings.

However, Perez faces a post-race stewards’ investigation for a safety car infringement.

UPDATE: Perez was given a 5s penalty but keeps his race win albeit by a reduced margin.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen suffered a poor start, which forced him to charge through until he made an error trying to pass McLaren’s Lando Norris and dropped to last place. He recovered to finish seventh.

2022 Singapore Grand Prix race results

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Gap Interval km/h Points
1 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 59     146.437 25
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 59 2.595 2.595 146.386 18
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 59 10.305 7.710 146.232 15
4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 59 21.133 10.828 146.017 12
5 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 59 53.282 32.149 145.382 10
6 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 59 56.330 3.048 145.322 8
7 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 59 58.825 2.495 145.273 6
8 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 59 1'00.032 1.207 145.249 4
9 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 59 1'01.515 1.483 145.220 2
10 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 59 1'09.576 8.061 145.062 1
11 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 59 1'28.844 19.268 144.686  
12 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 59 1'32.610 3.766 144.613  
13 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 58 1 Lap 1 Lap 142.449  
14 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 57 2 Laps 1 Lap 141.539  
  Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 34 25 Laps 23 Laps 139.686  
  France Esteban Ocon Alpine 26 33 Laps 8 Laps 140.186  
  Thailand Alex Albon Williams 25 34 Laps 1 Lap 138.144  
  Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 20 39 Laps 5 Laps 142.562  
  Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 7 52 Laps 13 Laps 130.541  
  China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 6 53 Laps 1 Lap 139.645  
 

How the Singapore Grand Prix unfolded

After a delayed start due to torrential rain, the field all started on intermediate tyres.

Perez made a great start and passed poleman Leclerc on the run to Turn 1, while Sainz took third from MercedesLewis Hamilton at the first corner after a brush of wheels before the apex of Turn 2. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, making his 350th F1 start, ran sixth behind Norris.

Further back, Verstappen made a dreadful start and cut the inside of Turn 1, dropping back to 12th on the opening lap from eighth on the grid, but he quickly charged his way back into the top 10 by Lap 2.

Nicholas Latifi (Williams) clobbered Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) into the wall approaching Turn 5 on Lap 7 which brought out the first safety car to retrieve the stricken Alfa. Zhou’s teammate Valtteri Bottas was also in the wars as he was clattered into by George Russell’s Mercedes, who started from the pitlane after an engine change.

Perez maintained his lead at the rolling restart on Lap 11, as Verstappen passed the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri to run seventh. Verstappen then got stuck behind Alonso until the Spaniard’s engine failed on Lap 21, which caused a virtual safety car for a couple of laps to deal with his car.

Russell gambled on pitting for medium-compound slicks at this point but was woefully slow as he struggled to keep temperature in them.

The returning Alex Albon, who spun his Williams into the wall on the opening lap, found the wall again at Turn 8 on Lap 26 and lost his front wing against the barriers, causing a second virtual safety car. A third quickly followed as Esteban Ocon’s Alpine expired on Lap 28.

Verstappen almost hit Norris at Turn 7 before the restart, and then attacked him hard for fifth place. Hamilton went off into the tyres at Turn 7 on lap 33, rejoining between Norris and Verstappen, but sustained front wing and endplate damage.

Leclerc pitted for medium slicks on 35 as soon as Russell set a fastest lap, as did Hamilton for a new nose section – dropping him to ninth. Perez responded in kind a lap later, as did Sainz and Verstappen.

Yuki Tsunoda then crashed his slick-shod AlphaTauri at Turn 10, causing the second full safety car, and Norris took advantage to make his stop for slicks.

The race went green again with 35 minutes remaining in what was now a timed race, with Perez leading Leclerc, Sainz, Norris and Verstappen. Daniel Ricciardo had jumped up to sixth in his McLaren, but opted for soft-compound slicks.

Verstappen attacked Norris into Turn 7 but locked up and blew the corner, rejoining ahead of Hamilton in eighth but with huge flatspots and was forced to pit for soft slicks. He rejoined in last position, but gained one spot when Russell hit Mick Schumacher’s Haas and suffered a puncture.

On slicks, Leclerc looked far more racy than previously, just as Perez reported engine issues. DRS was enabled, further helping Leclerc as he attacked for the lead in the closing stages.

As he looked poised to pass, Leclerc made a mistake and dropped out of DRS range, as Perez fixed his engine settings and pulled away. But Perez was facing an investigation from stewards for a safety car infringement and pushed flat-out to the finish to ensure his victory margin was over 5s just in case.

Sainz finished a distant third, ahead of Norris and Ricciardo. The Aston Martin of Lance Stroll was next up, while Hamilton gifted a spot to the recovering Verstappen when he overshot Turn 8 trying to pass Vettel. Verstappen passed Vettel on the final lap to grab seventh.

2022 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 54 1'46.458     171.211
2 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 57 1'48.165 1.707 1.707 168.509
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 59 1'48.414 1.956 0.249 168.122
4 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 54 1'48.753 2.295 0.339 167.598
5 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 52 1'49.142 2.684 0.389 167.000
6 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 56 1'49.212 2.754 0.070 166.893
7 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 58 1'50.283 3.825 1.071 165.272
8 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 58 1'50.290 3.832 0.007 165.262
9 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 56 1'50.569 4.111 0.279 164.845
10 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 58 1'50.622 4.164 0.053 164.766
11 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 58 1'50.669 4.211 0.047 164.696
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 57 1'51.006 4.548 0.337 164.196
13 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 52 1'51.864 5.406 0.858 162.937
14 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 59 1'52.067 5.609 0.203 162.641
15 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 32 1'58.716 12.258 6.649 153.532
16 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 19 2'00.463 14.005 1.747 151.306
17 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 24 2'01.105 14.647 0.642 150.504
18 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 24 2'02.121 15.663 1.016 149.251
19 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 5 2'05.556 19.098 3.435 145.168
20 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 5 2'05.585 19.127 0.029 145.135

2022 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix pitstops

Cla Driver Chassis 1 2 3 4 5
1 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull I 35 M 24            
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari I 34 M 25            
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari I 35 M 24            
4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren I 36 M 23            
5 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren I 36 S 23            
6 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin I 35 M 24            
7 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull I 35 M 5 S 19        
8 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin I 34 M 25            
9 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes I 34 M 25            
10 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri I 36 M 26            
11 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo I 33 S 26            
12 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas I 7 I 29 M 26        
13 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas I 34 M 7 S 17        
14 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes I 21 M 14 M 6 S 10 S 6
  Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri I 39 M 1            
  France Esteban Ocon Alpine I 26                
  Thailand Alex Albon Williams I 25                
  Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine I 20                
  Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams I 7                
  China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo I 6                
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