Liam Lawson has rounded out another strong weekend in Formula 1, finishing seventh in the Singapore Grand Prix to secure his third double-points weekend of the 2026 season, while Max Verstappen claimed a commanding victory under the lights at Marina Bay.
The Kiwi backed up his fifth-place finish in Saturday’s rain-affected Sprint race with another six championship points on Sunday, taking his weekend haul to 10 and continuing his strong run of form for Racing Bulls.
Lawson’s latest result lifts him to 75 points in the Drivers’ Championship, while Racing Bulls have now reached 100 points for the season, surpassing last year’s 92.
It also strengthens the team’s fifth-place position in the Constructors’ Championship, with a 32-point advantage over Alpine heading into the next round.
Starting eighth on the grid, one position higher than where he qualified following George Russell’s grid penalty, Lawson opted for the soft compound tyres and immediately made the most of them.
The 24-year-old got a strong launch off the line, passing Alpine’s Pierre Gasly into the opening corner to move into seventh.
With overtaking notoriously difficult around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, track position was crucial, and Lawson wasted little time establishing a gap over Nico Hulkenberg and Gasly behind him.
By Lap 5, he had already pulled more than a second clear of his nearest rivals, keeping himself out of range of their Overtake Mode advantage.
While the leading six gradually pulled away, Lawson settled into a consistent rhythm, managing his tyres and maintaining a comfortable gap to the chasing midfield.
The opening stages were briefly interrupted by a Virtual Safety Car after Gabriel Bortoleto stopped his Audi near the pit lane exit with a suspected gearbox problem. His car later caught fire during recovery, but marshals quickly brought the situation under control.
As the race approached its halfway point, strategy began to play a bigger role, with drivers taking different approaches to their pit stops.
Lawson climbed as high as sixth as cars ahead pitted, but with Gasly and Hulkenberg switching to fresh tyres, Racing Bulls brought the Kiwi in for his own stop. He rejoined in ninth on medium tyres, aiming to complete the remaining laps without another pit stop.
Despite Hulkenberg running a different tyre strategy, Lawson maintained his advantage and once again pulled more than a second clear of the Audi.
Further back, Russell was working his way through the field after starting 19th due to an engine penalty, while Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was also recovering from a pit-lane start.
Both posed a threat to Lawson’s position, especially as the race entered its final stages. However, traffic from Gasly and Hulkenberg slowed Russell’s progress, leaving Lawson with enough breathing room to bring his Racing Bulls home in seventh.
It marked his fifth seventh-place Grand Prix finish of the season and another valuable result in the team’s battle for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
“I’m very happy with today’s result. I had a strong start on the Soft tyres, making it possible to overtake. This was then followed by good pace throughout the race, so it felt great to come away with six points,” Lawson said.
“I feel very proud of the team and, overall, it’s been a positive few weeks as we continue our fight for P5 in the Championship.
“Next week, I’ll be focusing on training in the simulator before we head to Austin for the first race of the upcoming triple header. I’m really excited to continue this form into the rest of the season.”
The result also extends Lawson’s advantage over Alpine’s Gasly to 34 points in the Drivers’ Championship, while he now sits 37 points ahead of Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad.
Lindblad had a tougher afternoon, losing several positions at the start after being squeezed into the opening corner.
The young Briton struggled to recover around the tight street circuit and eventually finished 15th, leaving Lawson to score the team’s only Grand Prix points of the afternoon.
Racing Bulls Team Principal Alan Permane praised Lawson’s performance, particularly his opening-lap move and tyre management.
“A very strong race today, especially for Liam. Once he got past Gasly in Turn 1 on the first lap, he pulled away comfortably and maintained a gap all race, managing his tyre wear nicely,” Permane said.
“We reacted when Gasly and Hulkenberg pitted, going onto the Medium tyre for the rest of the race and minimising any exposure to Safety Car risks; from there, it was fairly straightforward to the flag.”
Permane also acknowledged Lindblad’s difficult afternoon, with wheelspin at the start and inconsistent power unit performance affecting his race. Despite the mixed results, Racing Bulls leave Singapore with another strong points haul and valuable momentum heading into the championship’s final stretch.
At the front, Max Verstappen continued his winning streak with a controlled drive to victory, securing his first Singapore Grand Prix win in 250 Formula 1 starts. Starting from pole position, the four-time World Champion defended his lead against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc into Turn 1 before gradually opening a gap.
Leclerc initially stayed within striking distance, but Verstappen began to pull away as the race settled, building an advantage of more than two seconds by Lap 15.
The Red Bull driver completed his scheduled pit stop on Lap 33, switching from soft to medium tyres while retaining the lead.
Even communication problems with his team in the closing stages didn’t disrupt his race, with Red Bull resorting to a pit board when radio messages became hard to hear.
Verstappen eventually crossed the line 7.3 seconds ahead of Leclerc, claiming his 73rd career victory and his third consecutive win across the Malaysian Grand Prix, Singapore Sprint and Singapore Grand Prix.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli completed the podium after a late charge through the field, passing Lewis Hamilton for third in the closing laps.
Hamilton had been running inside the top three for much of the race, but his decision to remain on an ageing set of soft tyres left him vulnerable to drivers on fresher rubber.
After losing third to Antonelli, the seven-time World Champion was also overtaken by both McLaren drivers, with Lando Norris finishing fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth.
Hamilton eventually crossed the line sixth, one position ahead of Lawson. Hulkenberg finished eighth for Audi, while Russell recovered from 19th on the grid to ninth. Hadjar finished tenth after starting from the pit lane.
Three drivers failed to finish the 62-lap race, with Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto and Lance Stroll all retiring due to mechanical problems.
Antonelli’s third-place finish further strengthens his position at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, extending his lead over Mercedes teammate Russell to 102 points.
The Italian now has a mathematical chance of securing the world title at the next round in the United States, while Mercedes also remains in contention to wrap up the Constructors’ Championship.
For Lawson, however, the focus remains on continuing his recent consistency and helping Racing Bulls secure fifth in the Teams’ Championship.
With 10 points from the Singapore weekend, the Kiwi has now scored in both the Sprint and Grand Prix on three occasions this season, having previously done so in China and at Silverstone.
Formula 1 now takes a short break before returning to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin for the United States Grand Prix, which begins another three-race stretch of the 2026 championship.
Header Image: Alastair Staley/LAT Images via Red Bull Content Pool
