Max Verstappen’s historic run of victories ends in Singapore

Max Verstappen’s history-making run of ten F1 victories in a row ended at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday as the reigning champion finished fifth. Verstappen’s chances of winning were slim after a disastrous qualification session had him starting in 11th. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the race.

The 25-year-old had already admitted before the race that he was not expecting a win at a circuit where he has never won before. He started well, going past Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, and Kevin Magnussen, but was stuck behind Sebastian Ocon for an extended period.

He rose to second spot after a safety car was called as most other drivers went in for a pitstop but was then caught by most as they had the fresher tires dropping to sixth.

Verstappen tried to get past Charles Leclerc to jump into fifth but was unsuccessful. He did, however, jump a spot due to George Russell of Mercedes crashing and not finishing the race.

Sainz finished top ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren. Lewis Hamilton took the last podium spot for Mercedes. It was the first race this season that Red Bull had not won. Verstappen had won 12 out of 14, with his teammate Sergio Perez winning the other two.

Verstappen is still top of the leaderboard for the F1 season with 374 points. Perez is his closest challenger with 223 points.