Mexican Sergio “Checo” Perez of Red Bull wins the F1 Singapore Grand Prix

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  • Despite alleged Safety Car infringement, Checo managed to win the race in the rain
  • Max Verstappen denied the 2022 title today.
  • Lewis Hamilton makes contact with the wall.

The 2022 title race will roll on to Japan next weekend after Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday rather than teammate Max Verstappen, although the race result is still subject to a stewards’ investigation for an alleged breach by Perez behind one of the day’s numerous safety cars.

One thing is certain: Verstappen has not yet won his second world title. The Dutch driver needed to win Sunday’s race and then hope that both Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished well down the field if he was to stand any chance of wrapping things up with five races of the season still remaining. But the Dutchman could only finish seventh.

That was still two places better than Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and seven places better than George Russell on what was a disastrous day for the Brackley team at a circuit where they hoped to fight for the win. Russell, who started from the pit lane, had a particularly tough time, eventually finishing 14th and last of the finishers having been lapped twice.

A long race, which was delayed by a heavy downpour an hour or so before the start, and which featured numerous safety cars both real and virtual, was eventually timed out after three hours.

Perez took the lead from pole-sitter Leclerc right at the start, and then managed to stay cool through all of the drama.