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Formula 1
Singapore GP
F1 Singapore GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix
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Max Verstappen will be hunting for his first Marina Bay victory this weekend, having scored an historic 10th consecutive F1 win last time out in Italy.
However, he will have to do so from 11th on the grid after a difficult qualifying in his Red Bull.
It hosted arguably his worst performance of the season last year, when he went off and could only recover to seventh.
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz will start from pole having also been fastest in practice, with Mercedes' George Russell alongside on the front row.
The 2023 Singapore GP starts at 1pm BST.
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Crash
Sargeant has hit the wall and lost his front wing. He understeered wide at Turn 8 and went straight on into the barriers.
To correct our earlier message, the timing screens have updated to show that Piastri did in fact start on mediums.
Piastri is warned there may be a brief rain shower on the way in five minutes. That would inject some excitement into proceedings.
Another lap passes by and we keep going with this, 'no, you first', game of pitstops. The problem Ferrari has is it needs a spot in the track to place its drivers after pitting, but because they are going so slowly they will come out in traffic.
If you're looking for a dictionary definition of a DRS train, look no further than the squabble for ninth with Hulkenberg and Gasly continuing to sit behind Magnussen without making any real attempt at a move. Lawson and Perez are gradually coming into the picture too.
Stopwatch
Sainz starts lap 17 having just set a new fastest lap of 1m39.398s. Nobody pits just yet but it won't be long before somebody blinks first.
Stopwatch
Leclerc's gap making isn't so successful as he sets a new fastest lap of 1m39.613s.
Ferrari is now asking Leclerc to create a gap to Sainz but he is worried as it leaves him at risk to attack from Russell.
Leclerc has dropped out of DRS range of Sainz, two seconds back in fact, which could let Russell pounce with Norris and Hamilton hot on his tail.
Would another DRS zone into the Turn 16/17 chicane have helped matters? So far we've yet to see anybody really get close enough to commit to a move there.
Haas really needs points here to keep its chase of Williams alive for seventh in the constructors' standings. If Magnussen and Hulkenberg can continue to keep Gasly and co at bay, it would represent three very handy points - but we have a long way still to go.
"I think Carlos is slowing down," Leclerc says over team radio. Everyone is slowing down - Albon, in 15th, is lapping faster than leader Sainz.
Verstappen still isn't close enough to have a sniff at Ocon, but his hard tyres will come into their own a little later on. Likewise, Ocon hasn't yet looked like giving Alonso a challenge for sixth.
Russell remains in touch of the Ferraris, just 1.7s off Leclerc on lap 12, but the Mercedes driver has got fellow Brits Norris and Hamilton in very close company.
Sainz is pretty happy out front: "I could go at this pace forever." That hints at tyre management for the Spaniard while also helping his team-mate whose soft tyres will be hurting now.
Leclerc remains tucked up cozy in Sainz's DRS range without looking for a move for the lead. Russell is now 2.2s off Leclerc in third.
Perez isn't within DRS range of Lawson's 12th place and has still yet to make any progress from his grid position. Red Bull's best hopes of getting anything from this race appear to come from Verstappen carving his way through the lower top 10. But Ocon will be a tougher nut to crack than Magnussen, given his Haas car's voracious appetite for tyres.
This race is playing nicely into Ferrari's hands so far, but there is a long way to go as leader Sainz completes lap eight of 62.
The benefit of clear air has given Zhou the fastest lap of the race so far. He's over 20 seconds behind his team-mate Bottas in 17th, in what appears to be a long evening ahead for the Alfa drivers.
Ferrari have been in tyre management mode at the start with no early safety car, but now they are being told they can push on. That appears to be the case for the majority of runners as the gaps remain stable.
Now Verstappen does get the move done into the Turn 14 right-hander, with the assistance of DRS. His next target as they start lap seven is Ocon's seventh place.
Verstappen may have to be opportunistic to catch Magnussen off guard. He certainly was in his lap two move on Hulkenberg at the Turn 13 hairpin, not often cited as an overtaking opportunity. Verstappen remains ninth for the time being.
Sainz leads by 0.8s, giving Leclerc a DRS tow, which has pushed them a couple of seconds up the road on Russell.
Replays from on-board Piastri show the cause of Tsunoda's DNF. He made contact at Turn 5 on the opening lap with Perez, causing a puncture on his right-rear. Perez therefore may have damage on his left-front corner.
So there will be no investigation into Hamilton after previously being noted by race control.
Ah, there we go. Hamilton has let Norris by on lap four so he moves back to fourth. So the frontrunners are as you were, with Leclerc getting by Russell for second place at the start.
Hamilton's been noted by race control for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at the start. That will be whether he should have given the place back to Norris.
Unlike his team-mate, Perez hasn't made much progress in the early laps and remains 13th. In his sights is Lawson, who lost two spots in the opening lap shuffling to Verstappen and Gasly. Softs have helped Piastri climb from 17th to 14th.
Sainz leads by 1.1s over Leclerc but as DRS is enabled the Ferrari fight for the lead is far from over.
Pit stop
Having started from the pitlane, Zhou returns there to ditch his soft tyres and take on a set of hards. He's last in the 18-car field.
The Mercedes pair switch to release Russell into third on lap two. Sensible call. But now Norris is on the team radio asking for Hamilton to also give the place back.
He may be on the hards, but Verstappen makes quick work of Hulkenberg's Haas to move into ninth.
Mechanical problem
Not a weekend to remember for Tsunoda, who is out of the race on lap one.
Sainz leads from Leclerc with Hamilton still third ahead of Russell, with Norris also losing a place to put him down in fifth.
Magnussen loses two places off the line, dropping from sixth to eighth behind Alonso and Ocon. Verstappen has gained one at the expense of Lawson to run tenth.
Hamilton gets his elbows out and moves ahead of Russell to take third but he may need to give that place back having gone off at Turn 2.
Lights green
Sainz gets away well to keep the lead while Leclerc makes the most of his soft tyres to move up to second, Hamilton takes to the run-off and comes out alongside Russell!
Everyone has got away smoothly and no Tsunoda-like shutdowns as we saw last time out at Monza which delayed the start of the Italian GP. Sainz leads the pack around to the grid. Here we go.
Can Leclerc make his soft tyre gamble work? We're about to find out as the formation lap gets going.
Tyres: Leclerc has gone bold, the only driver in the top 10 to start on the softs. The majority have opted to start on the mediums, but Leclerc is joined by Zhou, Piastri and Tsunoda on softs while Verstappen, Perez and Bottas start on hards.
By: Autosport Staff
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