There has been plenty of drama early in the Singapore Grand Prix, with one driver already out of the race while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had an incident on the opening lap.
Yuki Tsunoda, having encountered a power unit failure during the formation lap of the Italian Grand Prix, ran into early issues again on Sunday as he lasted just one lap in Singapore.
On this occasion it was a puncture for Tsunoda after early contract with Sergio Perez.
That was not the only incident though, with Lewis Hamilton investigated after leaving the track for the run-off after going wheel-to-wheel with teammate George Russell on the first corner.
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Piastri walks off after Brundle ‘snub’ | 00:34
“Is he gonna to let me back past or?” Russell said over the team radio.
Hamilton later said he believed Russell “pushed him wide” but eventually swapped places with Russell before also letting Lando Norris through to pass him.
That left Hamilton in fifth with Norris in fourth, Russell in third and Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc leading the race early.
Mercedes later told Russell that it looked like Ferrari is “going to sacrifice Leclerc”.
While that top five was relatively clear early, Max Verstappen was looming in the background after making a move on the second lap to jump into 10th.
Verstappen then overtook Nico Hulkenberg on the fourth lap and Kevin Magnussen soon after as he pushed for a podium spot.
Teammate Perez though was not making the same progress, sitting back in 13th after an early duel with Australian Oscar Piastri.
“He can’t make any impact on Liam Lawson ahead of him,” Ted Kravitz said on Sky Sports from the pit lane.
After a dramatic opening to the race there was another incident on the 19th lap as Logan Sargeant went into the wall at Turn 8.
The American continued on but there was significant damage to his front wing and Sargeant had also left debris on the track, prompting a Safety Car to be brought in.
That, in turn, saw everyone except for Red Bull duo Verstappen and Perez pit with Leclerc dropping behind Russell and Norris after a slow stop.
It was not on Ferrari though, with Leclerc asking “what happened” and being told the team had to hold him for traffic after double stacking from Mercedes.
Sainz was able to re-establish his lead when racing resumed but there was chaos elsewhere, with Russell overtaking Verstappen — who had moved up to third.
Norris, meanwhile, pushed ahead of Perez for fourth and then later also passed Verstappen while Hamilton was again involved in controversy when he overtook Perez off the track.
“Hamilton went off the track. He went off. Give me that position now,” said Perez.
STROLL PULLS OUT AFTER HEAVY CRASH
Earlier, Lance Stroll pulled out of the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, hours before the race was due to begin, following a huge crash in qualifying that destroyed his Aston Martin.
Stroll was pushing hard to progress from the first qualifying session on Saturday night when he lost control after running over the kerbs at the final turn and careered into the barriers opposite the pit lane at the Marina Bay street circuit.
The remains of the car, with Stroll in the cockpit, bounced back onto the track to be narrowly avoided by the McLaren of Lando Norris as red flags halted the session.
The Canadian driver got out of the car unaided and later was cleared of injury by the official Formula One medical team.
But hours before the lights were due to go out on Sunday’s night race in Singapore, the Aston Martin team issued a statement saying Stroll was still not 100 percent and would sit out in order to recover fully for next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
“Following Lance’s crash in qualifying during the Singapore Grand Prix, Lance and Aston Martin have jointly agreed that he will not participate in the Singapore Grand Prix this evening,” Aston Martin said.
“The team face a huge job repairing the car today and understandably Lance is still sore following such a high impact. Lance’s focus now shifts to fully recovering ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.”
QUALIFYING TALKING PTS: Red Bull disaster explained as rivals eye chance to break win streak
Carlos Sainz took pole position for Ferrari for the Singapore Grand Prix, but championship leader Max Verstappen will start from the back half of the grid after a “shocking” qualifying session.
Verstappen was eliminated in Q2 after finishing 11th fastest in an “undriveable” Red Bull and then escaped penalties that could have demoted him to last place.
Verstappen faced stewards late on Saturday after being accused of impeding cars in the pit lane and twice more on the track as he tried to create a gap for his qualifying laps.
The stewards cleared the driver of one offence and issued reprimands each for the other two, meaning Verstappen retains his place on the sixth row.
“It’s going to be a long evening for us. It’s hard to pass around here,” Verstappen told Sky Sports pre-race.
“That’s the beauty of this Grand Prix, a lot of things can happen around here and I hope we can score a few points.
“I expected it to be tough but hopefully we get a surprise and can still have a decent result.”
Australian Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, starts 17th on the grid after being caught out by the red flag caused by Stroll’s crash.
STARTING GRID FOR SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX:
Front row Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)
2nd row Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)
3rd row Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas)
4th row Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin) Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)
5th row Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas) Liam Lawson (NZL/AlphaTauri)
6th row Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine)
7th row Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) Alexander Albon (THA/Williams)
8th row Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri) Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo)
9th row Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren) Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams)
10th row Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo) Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)
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