#1074 2022 Singapore Grand Prix

The 2022 Singapore Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2022) is a Formula One motor race held on 2 October 2022 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore. Although the regular 61 laps are scheduled, only 59 are completed due to the two-hour time limit being reached. The event takes place across the weekend of 30 September – 2 October. It is the seventeenth round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship and the first time the event has been held since 2019, with the 2020 and 2021 races being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sebastian Vettel enters as the defending race winner. Before the Singapore Grand Prix, Max Verstappen leads the Drivers' World Championship by 116 points from Charles Leclerc, second, and teammate Sergio Pérez, third, by 125 points. Red Bull Racing leads the Constructors' World Championship, leading Ferrari by 139 points and Mercedes by 164 points. Verstappen could secure his second consecutive World Drivers' Championship. He needs to outscore Leclerc by 22 points, Pérez by 13, and George Russell by six. Otherwise, on Friday 23 September 2022 the news was officially announced that the Canadian driver of the British team Williams from the 2020 season, Nicholas Latifi, is not confirmed for the following season. Nicholas made his Formula 1 debut with Williams Racing at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix and has contested 55 Grands Prix to date, scoring 7 championship points, including his points debut at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix. 2021. Having confirmed that Alex Albon will continue for next year and beyond, Williams Racing will in due course announce their full driver line-up for 2023. Nicola Latifi said:

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Williams Racing - all the people who have returned to the factory and those I work with trackside - for the past three years. My initial F1 debut was postponed due to the pandemic, but in the end we set off in Austria and while together we didn't achieve the results we hoped for, it was still a fantastic journey. Getting those first points in Hungary last year was a moment I will never forget, and I will move on to the next chapter of my career with special memories of my time with this dedicated team. I know none of us will stop working hard until the end of the season".

Jost Capito, CEO and Team Principal, adds:

"On behalf of the whole team, I would like to say a huge thank you to Nicholas for his three years of hard work with Williams. He is a great team player who has a great attitude towards his colleagues and work and is well liked and respected throughout the company. Our time together is drawing to a close, but I know he will do his best to maximize what we can do together for the rest of this season. We wish him all the best of luck in his future, both in and out of the cockpit".

On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team is delighted to announce today the renewal of the Title and Technical Partnership between the team and progressive energy group, Petronas from the 2026 season onwards. Not only will this renewal power the partnership towards two decades of success at the pinnacle of motorsport, but it also signals a commitment to a more sustainable future - and the determination to excel in the exciting technical challenge presented by the 2026 power unit regulations. The partnership extension was announced today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the iconic Petronas Towers. Said Toto Wolff, CEO and Team Principal:

"Today we are doing something a little bit unusual - announcing a partnership that will begin in four years' time. This sends an important message: our team and Petronas are no longer just partners, we are family, and we will be one team for many more years to come. From 2026, advanced sustainable fuel will be at the heart of F1 performance - and this gives us a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in this domain, through both the power unit and Petronas Fluid Technology Solutions. We are excited to be racing into the future alongside Petronas, with the ambition to set the standard once again, in our on-track performance and by pioneering the transition of a global sports team to a net-zero future".

Since 2010, the partnership has been founded on a shared ambition to achieve world-class performance. In the space of nearly 13 seasons so far, we have won together eight constructors' world championships and 115 Grand Prix victories - an achievement unmatched in F1. And this success has been underpinned and enabled by continuous technical innovation. Through this experience, Petronas develops class-leading fluids for consumers around the world, namely PETRONAS Primax fuel, Petronas Syntium engine oil and Petronas Tutela functional fluids. Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik, Petronas President and Group Chief Executive Officer said:

"What you are witnessing today bears testimony to the shared conviction of both Petronas and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team: that the synergy and shared ambition of both parties will deliver a pathway to responsibly provide the sports and our customers with energy that is cleaner and more sustainable. Given the accumulated experience as a team over the last decade, and the technical capabilities and expertise sourced from our combined talents, Petronas looks forward to charting the next chapter with a focus on advanced sustainable fuel for Mercedes and its customer teams. Together with our partners, Petronas will keep pushing boundaries with our Fluid Technology Solutions through innovative offerings. At the heart of our efforts will be sustainability - as we all progress towards a lower-carbon future".
 
For 2026, the sport has set its most significant challenge yet with its ambition to race towards a more sustainable future. With a target of 50% electrification of the power unit and development of road-relevant 100% advanced sustainable fuels, the new rules will require innovative solutions to lead the way in the sport's next era. Currently in line with the 2022 regulations, Petronas is supporting Mercedes and its customer teams with advanced sustainable E10 fuel, comprising 10% second-generation non-food based ethanol E10, which reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions overall. Datuk Sazali Hamzah, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Petronas Downstream said:

"With our longstanding partnership and extensive experience in formulating the Fluid Technology Solutions for the team, Petronas is fully equipped with the capacity and capabilities to perfect the technology to produce and supply 100% advanced sustainable fuel for the next-generation power units. In that same vein, we are already on track with developing a greenfield biorefinery and co-processing at our facilities to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a cleaner and more viable option for aircrafts in our effort to support the aviation industry needs".

This is in line with Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) which is expected to come into mandatory effect by 2027 as well as Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) net zero by 2030 commitment - both of which will affect the logistics operations of F1 teams. The planned biorefinery will also have operational flexibility to produce hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) for on-road vehicles, diesel-powered trains, and marine transportation as well as petrol range products which can be included and/or upgraded for on-road vehicles. Beyond that, Petronas also offers a suite of cleaner energy solutions such as EV chargers and fluids, liquefied natural gas and solar as well as other renewable energy solutions as a concerted push to support its partners' sustainability goals. Commented Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Commercial Director, Richard Sanders:
 
"Petronas is an important part of our heritage and history, and we're delighted that they will continue as our Title and Technical partner long into the future. The partnership with Petronas will now span two decades and we look forward to making this the most enduring and successful sponsorship in elite global sport".

The Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff, adds that the team has worked hard to prepare for the last races of the season and is pleased with the announcement of the extension of the partnership with the sponsor Petronas:

"While we've had a longer break than usual from the racing action, the factories have been busy preparing for this season's final push. Let's see where that hard work leads us. Since the start of the year, we've been making good progress and it's been a strong recovery from the team. We need to keep the momentum going, keep learning and extract the maximum we can from every opportunity. It's great to be back in Singapore for the first time since 2019. The whole weekend is so unique; remaining on the European schedule, the climate and the track layout. Some aspects of the circuit should suit our car better than some of the recent circuits - but other aspects, like the bumpy surface, might prove challenging. We'll know for sure when we hit the track on Friday. Before heading to Singapore, we visited our title partner Petronas to announce the extension of our partnership from 2026 onwards. Our commitment to sustainable projects both on and off track in the years to come is a landmark moment for us and strengthens our already close collaboration".

The F1 Circus is back at Marina Bay for the first time since 2019, when Sebastian Vettel won ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc. On chart Ferrari should be strong here and the Monegasque driver is the only  one who can stop Max Verstappen from winning his second World Championship on Sunday. It’s a really hot Friday in Singapore, the air temperature is 29 °C for FP1, while the track is up to 38 °C. But it is the humidity that is sapping for the drivers, running at upwards of 80% and leaving them soaking with sweat in their cockpits. The conditions will cool off slightly once the sun sets between the sessions. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap in 1'43"033 during the first session of free practice, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc finishing respectively second and third. Sergio Perez finishes fourth in the other Red Bull, 0.806s off the pace, while George Russell rounds out the top five for Mercedes, even if he hit the barrier at the beginning of the session, luckily with no car damage; leaving Carlos Sainz sixth as he struggles with the car’s balance. The second free practice session begins at 9:00 p.m. local time, the first representative of the weekend with the sun setting down and the floodlights taking over.  The session ends with Carlos Sainz ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc by +0.208s; the Monegasque misses out almost half of the session after some brake issues. Russel is third in 1’42"911 followed by Max Verstappen and the other Silver Arrow of Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez in the other red bull closes the session only ninth: 

"We lost a bit of track time in FP2 and had some issues with the engine reliability and then we made some set-up changes. So, we have a lot of information to get through tonight and we’ll pick out the best bits for tomorrow to try and do the best we can. I felt more comfortable in FP1 and I was quicker in that session, so I think there is some good data for us to look to there. We knew Mercedes and Ferrari were both going to be strong and we will see what we are able to do tomorrow come qualifying, it should be interesting".

Max Verstappen, who turns 25 today, declares:

"I think we started out quite well in FP1 and then in FP2 we wanted to try a few things out but they just took a bit longer to change, and then we wanted to try something else and that also took quite a long time to change. We couldn’t run a lot so it wasn’t very representative of what we can do. Of course, there is still a lot of room for improvement and we still need to analyze whether the changes we made worked or not. I think where it matters most is tomorrow and how quick we can be over one lap".

Ferrari seems to be the favorite here and also appears to be competitive again.  Carlos Sainz Jr., after a good Friday says: 

"It's been a busy first day here in Singapore. We managed to complete the full run plan but we also faced some challenges, particularly with the setup and car balance. We didn’t find the right window for FP1, but we managed to improve the feeling with the car for FP2. We still need to do some work and find some lap time, especially for the long runs. It seems we are up for a tight battle at the top so we need to try to maximise every aspect of the weekend".

Charles Leclerc adds: 

"Our performance was good, but unfortunately, we had limited running today. It isn’t ideal, so we have to make sure we have a clean FP3 so as to also work on our race pace. Our qualifying pace looks strong and we will target pole".

Mercedes drivers have different feelings about the car; George Russell hit the wall both during FP1 and FP2, and is not really happy about his performances: 

"On paper it's been a promising day for us, but paper doesn't mean anything. Overall, today went okay, but there's definitely a lot of work to do for us. This circuit is very unique and conditions here are tricky. It's just so hot and you always feel a bit light-headed jumping out of the car. The track surface is very bumpy out there and I think to a degree everybody is struggling with that. We know that that's a weak point with our car plus the tires here are quite sensitive. I was surprised about the grip levels on the new track surface and I'm sure track improvements will continue to evolve during the weekend. I'm sure in qualifying there will be a big improvement from Q1 to Q3. If we manage to absolutely nail it tomorrow, there will be a huge amount of lap time we can find in qualifying and we all know how important qualifying performance is at this track. We feel optimistic and work hard overnight".

Lewis Hamilton instead seems quite satisfied:  

"Today started off well with FP1, but wasn't as great in the second session. The car is what it is and we're bouncing around a lot, but it doesn't feel like we're massively off this weekend. There's not too much we can do about the stiffness of the car with the tools we have, but set-up wise we can find more time. With the set-up that I had today, there was a lot of locking, which we will fix it tonight so we can come back and give it a better go tomorrow. Conditions here are tricky, I definitely feel dehydrated after the sessions, a bit heavy and very hot. But biggest problem is not the physical challenge so much as getting the car in the window for qualifying tomorrow".

During the day, the Singapore paddock becomes lively when the Federation releases a statement saying it is finalizing the evaluation of the financial data from the previous championship, submitted by all Formula 1 teams. Any alleged violations of the financial regulations, if present, are dealt with according to the formal process established by the regulations. According to the latest rumors, the Austrian team Red Bull Racing and the British team Aston Martin have not respected the budget cap set at 145 million dollars in 2021. The infraction by the Milton Keynes-based team is not serious and is considered to be under 5% of last season's budget cap. Therefore, the possible penalties do not go beyond a fine or a reduction of the funds available for the next season. Before the dispute of the next Japanese Grand Prix, scheduled for the following week on 9 October, a detailed report is expected from the global motorsport governing body. In the evening, the Federation releases a statement acknowledging the unfounded speculations and conjectures surrounding the issue and reaffirms that the evaluation is ongoing and that the correct process is being followed without considering any external discussions.

On Saturday the bad weather hits Marina Bay, but after some controls, the team get ready for the third free practice session. Safety Car is on track, to evaluate the circuit conditions, as there are several crytical zones on it. The stewards are working on the third sector to remove the water accumulated on track. The two AlphaTauris are the first cars out, Gasly e Tsunoda sono presenti lungo il tracciato, while the session has been reduced by 30 minutes due to the bad weather conditions. Ferrari starts its session, while Ricciardo tries to beat Gasly’s time (2'09"8).  Stroll, Vettel and Zhou are now on track. Leclerc is on intermediates and starts his FP3; also Verstappen is on track, he runs a lap and gets the lead. There are problems for Latifi, who stops his car in the second sector. Carlos Sainz is on wet tyres, while Verstappen still leads the ranking, threatened by Leclerc. Mick Schumacher is at the boxes for some issues, as the Haas’ mechanics did not mount correctly a tyre on his car. The duel between Red Bull and Ferrari starts: Verstappen is ahead of Leclerc, while Alonso is behind the Monegasque with his Alpine. Sainz is now third, while there are problems for an AlphaTauri, which has difficulties in the third sector. Last minute of FP3 and Leclerc in now the leader, with five tenths of detachment from Verstappen. At the end, the leader is still the Ferrari driver, with the Red Bulls behind. At 3:00 p.m. local time, it is time for qualifying at Marina Bay. The weather gets better and Q1 starts. The two Mercedes cars are immediately on track on intermediate tyres to test the track conditions that may seem too risky for slicks. Russell runs in 1'57"099 but then Hamilton does a time of 1'56"937; Russell improves, in 1'55"842, and is now in the lead, while Leclerc passes hime, recording a best time of 1'55"054. Verstappen has to abort his first attempt due to yellow flags in the last sector. Hamilton goes under 55, in 1'54"689 while Sainz Jr. is now in P3, 0.390 seconds behind the Briton driver. 

Verstappen takes the lead in 1'54"395. Leclerc steals the lead from his rival in 1'54"222. 4 minutes to the end and the drivers excluded are Albon, Latifi, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Schumacher - the two Haas are still without time. The first five in the ranking are: Leclerc, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz and Hamilton. Magnussen and Schumacher start their attempts and get P6 and P10. Also Zhou improves and goes P8 while Russell is in P5. Hamilton does a time of 1'53"161 but Verstappen answers with 1'53"057. at the end of Q1 the drivers out are: Bottas, Ricciardo, Ocon, Albon and Latifi. Q2 starts and everyone is stilla t the boxes with intermediate tyres. The track conditions are now better than before, so the same is for the times. Leclerc laps in 1'52"343, with Hamilton and Norris half and a second behind. Max Verstappen arrives and gets P2, Perez is in P, while Sainz on his second attempt is fourth with one second of detachment from his teammate. Conditions are really hard now, as some points of the track are dry and others too wet and 5 minutes to the end are excluded Schumacher, Magnussen, Zhou, Russell and Tsunoda. The two Aston Martins opt for new softs together with Zhou; Hamilton is in P2, while the drivers on the slick have difficulties. Tsunoda improves and gets P6, but a little fater his teammate Gasly does better than him. Alonso is in P5 and Magnussen manages to take his Haas in Q3. Russell closes in P11 so is excluded, together with Stroll, Schumacher, Vettel and Zhou. George Russell explains his car’s problems:

"I was struggling with a brake-related issue, pushing me into the corners. The grip felt good, I just couldn't get around any corners. I kept understeering off, which is such a shame. I don't think we'd have been any better in Q3, because of that problem. We've seen some indications in the data and I hope we can resolve it until tomorrow. Obviously, it's disappointing for myself and the whole team as the car was looking strong here. Lewis was really fast, but unfortunately, I couldn't make it work. It's still an encouraging weekend for us all in all, but obviously, we're here to score points and ultimately this is a qualifying track. Fortunately, the degradation is looking high and it could be a two stop race tomorrow".

Everyone is on slick softs, except for Tsunoda and Magnussen who are on intermediates, and Q3 starts. Verstappen is the first to go, followed by Hamilton who laps in 1'53"082. Leclerc is the second, with 862 thousandths from Lewis, while Alonso is in P3. Verstappen and Perez improve, getting respectively P2 and P3, while Sainz is behind Leclerc in P5. Alonso takes temporarily the lead, but arrives ma Leclerc who laps in 1'49"412.

First Sainz and then Perez take P2. Hamilton is in P3, while Verstappen was improving but is asked by the team to go back to the box; Giampiero Lambiase asked him to abort the previous lap, to avoid using up all the fuel left in the tank. Charles Leclerc takes the 18th career pole position, the ninth of the season and the second consecutive after the previous Italian Grand Prix.

"With track conditions changing throughout, it was a tricky but exciting qualifying. We were very quick on the Intermediates in Q1 and Q2, then had to start again from zero on the slicks in Q3. There were some damp spots of tarmac here and there and you really had to adapt to the track evolution. The feeling in the car has been great all weekend and I look forward to racing here again tomorrow".

Carlos Sainz Jr. is fourth, with half and one tenth of detachment from his teammate, but is not satisfied with the result:

"It was a challenging qualifying today, one of the toughest of the season due to the conditions and the amount of traffic at a street circuit like this. I think we did a decent session overall, but it’s frustrating to see that a tenth and a half cost us four positions, especially after reviewing my fastest lap, which was looking very good for pole until a snap at turn 16. We’ll look into it and check what we could have done better, but now we need to focus on tomorrow. We can still get a very good result from here and we know how long and eventful these Singapore races can get. I’m ready to fight for everything".

Laurent Mekies analyses the Ferraris’ session:

"Our car was very quick today, as were our drivers, which is a very important factor on such a unique track as this one, especially in what has so far been a difficult weekend for everyone with rain and extremely changeable track conditions. For the team and drivers to make the right decisions together in Qualifying was particularly tricky because of the really treacherous track conditions. We were aiming to get both cars onto the front row, but overall this is an important result for the team, thanks to clear thinking between the drivers and those on the pit wall, which is good for everyone and gives the drivers confidence when approaching what will be a very long race. There are several question marks about tomorrow’s race because, like all the teams, we have not done much work on race pace, so we will be less well prepared than usual. In fact, we had to improvise a bit in qualifying, but, here especially, that’s all part of the game. Charles and Carlos did a very good job of finding the right pace in many different conditions and tonight we will work together, looking at all possible scenarios. I also think that today we did not see the best our rivals can do, so for tomorrow, not only must we execute our race perfectly, we also have to find a pace during the Grand Prix that will put us in the fight for the win".

Sergio Perez finishes second, so fast that he is at 22 thousandths from the pole:

"I think we have done a solid job today, the Team made great calls and we managed to get an excellent result in the end. I am a bit disappointed to be so close to Charles on such a long lap because it makes you think I could have done better in so many places but at the same time it was so tricky out there with the conditions. It was our worst Friday of the season yesterday; we didn’t have any mileage and we had issues with set-up too, so we didn’t have a read on things, but we went back over things and have come out strong. I will try everything I possibly can to win tomorrow, I think the start will be very important so I will try everything but if that doesn’t work, I have 61 laps more, then it is a long race ahead, let’s see what happens".

Max Verstappen is in P8, as he pays for the strategic mistakes of his team:

"We couldn’t finish the push lap today because we wouldn’t have had enough fuel in the car, it was a mistake that we didn’t see coming throughout the session. We were a little surprised by the additional lap at the end, we didn’t expect to have to do that. I was on for a good lap when I aborted before starting the last lap, it might have been pole. In hindsight we should have finished the penultimate lap, instead I had to abort two laps, but hindsight is a great thing. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow but I think it will be a frustrating race, starting eighth around here is similar to Monaco, there aren’t many overtaking opportunities and it’s really hard to pass".

Christian Horner, Red Bull’s Team Principal and CEO, is confident about tomorrow:

"It was a qualifying of highs and lows. Firstly, Checo has done an amazing job, this is his first ever front row here and he can race well from there. He had good race pace so hopefully he’ll have a good start and that puts us in a great position. As for Max, the track was ramping up and we assumed 5 laps would be the maximum we could do but as we came up to the flying lap, fuel was too close to the limit. Rather than start from the pit lane, we elected to abort the lap which was a frustrating call for Max and for the whole team. It relegates him to 8th but that is obviously better than starting from the pit lane. This makes life a lot harder but what we have seen with the cars this season is that you can overtake, you cannot take anything for granted, there is a lot to play for and we are confident we can turn it around tomorrow".

Third is Lewis Hamilton, who initially was the best on track, but was not so fast in the last sector:

"I was pushing so hard and it was incredibly close. It was really difficult to get to a position where we could be fighting for first place and I just didn't have enough grip on the last lap. Coming here, we didn't know how close we could be this weekend. We knew we'd be stronger than in Monza, but we didn't know exactly how much. Nonetheless, I am grateful to be on the second row tomorrow. And I'm thankful to the team for continuing to push. We just keep our head down and hope for a positive day tomorrow".

Toto Wolff, Mercedes‘ Team Principal, continues:

"Lewis came close today, being only five hundredths off. Unfortunately, he had a small lock up in Turn 16 and that cost him momentum through the rest of the lap. Even so, he almost took pole, it was a great effort. George had braking issues with his car so, unfortunately, he didn't have the right equipment to fight for a top position and we need to find out what the cause is. We were hoping that this weekend would go well because our simulations had predicted it and that reflects our growing understanding of the car; generally, it seems that we are heading in the right direction, especially for next year. Hopefully tomorrow, we can fight for the win, but we also need to keep our expectations in check and maximise the opportunities we have in the race".

Although Leclerc has conquered pole position during qualifying, the start sees Perez immediately take it over him, gaining the first place. It’s a tricky start for many of the drivers, including Verstappen, who ends up starting from the 8th place from qualifying and falls off to 12th after lap 1 and a collision with Magnussen. However, Verstappen is quick to make up for lost time and manages to gain 3 places when, in lap 7, the first of many safety cars is issued due to an accident involving Latifi and Zhou. They’re both immediately out of the race, while Magnussen is also forced to pit due to an unstable front wing due to the collision with Verstappen at the start of the race. The collision between the two drivers is investigated, but no further action is deemed necessary by the FIA. When the Safety Car is over, Max Verstappen starts gaining positions, overtaking Vettel, who gets to the 9th position, and Gasly, therefore ending up 7th. However he is struggling to take over Alonso, who is currently at 6th place. On lap 21, however, the Alpine driver suffers from engine failure at Turn 10 and is forced to retire from the race, taking Verstappen to the 6th position on the grid. 

After Alonso’s retirement, Mercedes decide to pit Russel’s car and switches to medium tyres. All eyes are on him as he’s the first to try out this set of tyres in the current conditions. At first, the youngest Mercedes driver doesn’t seem to gain any benefit from that, but as laps go by, his pace starts getting better, prompting more drivers to adopt the same strategy. Two virtual safety cars follow suit: the first one on lap 26, as section 2 sees double yellow as Albon crashed into the barriers. The Williams driver resumes the race, but is later forced to retire after the loss of his front wing. The second virtual safety car is deployed when Ocon’s power unit fails, forcing the driver to retire his car. The end of this cafety car sees Verstappen almost colliding with Norris, after miscalculating the timing of the green flag, but thankfully no accident occurs. On lap 33, Hamilton, who is in 4th position behind Perez and the two Ferraris, crashes into the barrier, but is able to quickly resume the race, re-entering between Norris and Verstappen, only needing to pit to change his front wing after Verstappen points out on the team radio he saw it hanging off. In the meantime, Leclerc, who has been chasing Perez since lap 1, stops to change to medium tires as well. The race doesn’t resume for long, though, as on lap 36 Tsunoda crashes into the barriers at Turn 10 and brings out the second physical safety car of the evening. 

During the safety car, both McLarens switch to medium tires, with now only 14 cars left racing, now all on medium tires. On Lap 40, Verstappen locks up while attempting to overtake Norris in turn 7. He pits for fresh, soft tyres, re-entering from the pit lane in last place. However, another collision is soon to follow between Schumacker and Russell, forcing them both to put for fresh tires.  Whereas, Mick Schumacker ends up also getting a puncture in his car and finishes 13th at the end of the race. In the meantime, the clock keeps ticking as the 3 hours time limit for the race looms over everyone’s head, including Leclerc’s, who is still trying to close the distance with Perez. On lap 44, DRS is finally enabled for the first time since the start of the race, and although Leclerc isn’t close enough yet to benefit from it, he makes all the effort to get closer to Perez. In the meantime, Norris tries to get DRS from Sainz, who is 3rd. Verstappen, who had fallen back after his failed overtaking attempt, manages to gain back several position, until he reaches Vettel and Hamilton and starts to battle for 7th place with the other two drivers. Vettel, who was leading at the start of the battle, ends up fighting for his position with Hamilton, but as the Mercedes driver messes up, they both fall behind Verstappen, who manages to conquer 7th place. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez wins the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix. The Mexican Driver wins his fourth career Grand Prix, his second win of the season after his victory in the Monaco Grand Prix:

"I am so happy to get this victory for me and my Team, it means a lot to me. I haven’t been on the podium the last couple of races but I was always working under the radar and making big noises behind the scenes, so I am super proud of the performance today. Mentally it was tough and you had to stay alert for the whole race. It was super tricky in the conditions out there today and people underestimate how difficult it is to drive in those, going through the final sector was so hard. There was a bit of miscommunication with the safety car I think, he was going really fast in places where I couldn’t keep up with him and then slowing where I could go fast. We were driving on slicks in the wet trying to keep the temperature and that is difficult. When they told me I was under investigation I just pushed like qualifying for 15 laps to get as big a gap as possible to Charles".

About his race, and his 9th place, Lewis Hamilton comments: 

"I think we started off with a pretty decent weekend and it was just really unfortunate at the end, no matter how hard I was trying it was just not possible to overtake. Today was about who gets on the slicks first and it would have been slice and dice with Carlos, which I was working towards. But that went out of the window when I had that lockup going into Turn 7. Your heart sinks a little bit, but you get back up again and try. My apologies to the Team, it's a shame we didn't manage to secure more points today. But we live, we learn and we will recover. We have lots to review from this weekend and I'm looking forward to Suzuka".

George Russell ends up last of the 14th drivers who were able to conclude the race. About his race, he comments: 

"We took a risk today going on slicks and it could have paid off with the Safety Car but then I had the incident with Mick. I don't know what happened, we need to review it. I'm disappointed we didn't score any points this weekend, but I'm pleased that the issues with the brakes we experienced in FP3 had been resolved and our confidence restored. We showed how fast our car can be and I'm still proud of the team because we are making good progress. I got a lot of confidence and optimism from today that we do have a competitive car. It was an enjoyable race although out of the points - I like the challenging conditions that Singapore brings, but obviously we want to finish much higher up. We have lots of work to do ahead of Suzuka but it was positive to experience the car's potential today".

When asked about Mercedes’s performance for this weekend, Toto Wolff comments:

"This season has given us several tough lessons - and today was another one. We started from opposite ends of the grid with our two cars, but we couldn't capitalise on the car's race pace with either of them, when it came to an end result. Lewis was fighting for the podium for much of the race - but also battling a car balance that was on a knife edge today, in difficult conditions and on the bumpy surface. After he locked up and damaged the wing, the stop to change tyres and the nose cost him position - then he lost out even more when cars ahead pitted under Safety Car and jumped ahead. That left him stuck in a train of cars on very similar aged tyres, and he couldn't make up any ground. For George, we rolled the dice on dry tyres when he was running out of the points - in hindsight, it was clearly too early, but he had nothing to lose, so we were prepared to take the gamble. Even so, as the race unfolded, he was still on course to make it back to the points until the collision with Mick, which put him last on the road. The biggest frustration today is that we couldn't build on the signs of competitive performance we saw in FP2 and in Qualifying. Our championship fight for P2 has got significantly more difficult with this result, but the only thing to do is to collect ourselves and throw our energy into the next race in Suzuka to rebuild momentum".

Max Verstappen ends the race in 7th position, which is definitely not what anyone was expecting from the Dutch driver. The Dutch driver was expected to secure his world-championship title in this race, but the weekend didn’t go as planned. He expresses his feelings in the post-race interview:

"First of all, well done to Checo today, he put in a great performance. From my side it was a frustrating weekend. The race didn’t start off well, I had an anti-stall so I lost a lot of positions at the start. From there onwards, I got myself back into a reasonable position after switching to slicks, but when I wanted to go for the move on Lando I braked and I hit a big bump and bottomed out and locked up. I boxed for new tyres as I had a massive flat spot so I had to start all over again from the back. It’s tough to pass people on this track, especially when we’ve all got our tyres up to temperature, so I was stuck for a while. It was good to get a few points but that’s not what we are here for, time to focus on to Japan".

Coming up on the podium, there is Sainz Jr. on third place, who was able to defend his position during the race but never really got to catch up to his teammate. At the end of the race, he shares his thoughts:

"It was quite a strange race for me to be honest. I had a good start and managed to get Lewis, but for some reason I struggled with pace in the first stint with the Intermediates and only towards the end of race did I manage to recover it. But by then it was already too late. We need to look into it because I’ve been quick all weekend and today I lost all feeling with the car. On a positive note, we managed to do a race without mistakes in these tricky conditions, which was not easy today, bringing home a solid result with both cars on the podium. We’ll go at it again in Japan next week".