Perez beat Charles Leclerc from Ferrari’s pole position at turn one and dominated the race until the middle field switched to slicks.
Perez then encountered engine problems which helped Leclerc to attack in the closing laps, but an error by Leclerc dropped him two seconds behind, after Perez adjusted his engine settings.
However, Perez faces a post-race investigation from the stewards for a safety car breach.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen got off to a bad start which forced him to race until he made a mistake trying to pass McLaren’s Lando Norris and fell to last place. He recovered to finish seventh.
2022 Singapore Grand Prix Results
How was the Singapore Grand Prix
After a delayed start due to torrential rain, the whole peloton set off on intermediate tyres.
Perez had a great getaway and overtook pole-sitter Leclerc in the race at Turn 1, while Sainz took third from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 after a wheel brush before the top of Turn 2. Fernando Alonso of Alpine, doing his 350e Started in F1, ran sixth behind Norris.
Further back, Verstappen got off to a terrible start and cut the inside of Turn 1, dropping to 12e into the first lap from eighth on the grid, but quickly moved back into the top 10 on lap two.
Nicholas Latifi (Williams) knocked Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) into the wall approaching Turn 5 on lap seven, which brought out the first safety car to recover the struggling Alfa. Zhou’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas was also in the war when he was hit by George Russell’s Mercedes, which left the pit lane after an engine change.
Perez maintained his lead on the 11th lap flying restart, as Verstappen passed Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri to claim seventh. Verstappen then got stuck behind Alonso until the Spaniard’s engine failed on lap 21, prompting a virtual safety car for a few laps to tend to his car.
Russell gambled on the pits for the medium-compound slicks at this point, but was painfully slow as he struggled to keep the temperature down in them.
The comeback of Alex Albon, who threw his Williams into the wall on the first lap, found the wall at turn 8 on lap 26 and lost his front wing against the barriers, causing a second virtual safety car. A third followed quickly as the Alpine of Esteban Ocon expired on lap 28.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Verstappen nearly hit Norris at turn 7 before the restart, then attacked him hard for fifth. Hamilton went out in the tires at turn 7 on lap 33, joining Norris and Verstappen, but suffered damage to the front wing and endplate.
Leclerc pitted for medium slicks on lap 35 as soon as Russell set a fastest lap, as did Hamilton for a new nose section – dropping him down to ninth. Perez responded in kind a lap later, as did Sainz and Verstappen.
Yuki Tsunoda then crashed his slick-shod AlphaTauri at Turn 10, causing the second full safety car, and Norris took the opportunity to make his stop for the slicks.
The race turned green again with 35 minutes remaining in what was now a timed race, with Perez ahead of Leclerc, Sainz, Norris and Verstappen. Daniel Ricciardo had jumped up to sixth place in his McLaren, but had opted for soft rubber slicks.
Verstappen attacked Norris in Turn 7 but locked up and blew the corner, joining Hamilton in eighth but with huge flatspots and was forced to pit for soft slicks. He joined last, but moved up a place when Russell hit Mick Schumacher’s Haas and suffered a puncture.
On the slicks, Leclerc looked a lot more racy than before, as Perez reported engine issues. DRS was activated, further helping Leclerc as he attacked for the lead in the closing stages.
Just as he looked set to pass, Leclerc made a mistake and dropped out of DRS range, as Perez corrected his engine settings and pulled away. But Perez was facing an investigation from the stewards for a safety car breach and pushed hard to the finish to ensure his margin of victory was over 5 seconds, just in case.
Sainz finished third well ahead of Norris and Ricciardo. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin was next, while Hamilton offered Verstappen a place when he overshot Turn 8 trying to pass Vettel. Verstappen then passed Vettel on the final tour to grab seventh place.
2022 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix fastest laps
2022 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix Pit Stops
Perez beat Charles Leclerc from Ferrari’s pole position at turn one and dominated the race until the middle field switched to slicks.
Perez then encountered engine problems which helped Leclerc to attack in the closing laps, but an error by Leclerc dropped him two seconds behind, after Perez adjusted his engine settings.
However, Perez faces a post-race investigation from the stewards for a safety car breach.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen got off to a bad start which forced him to race until he made a mistake trying to pass McLaren’s Lando Norris and fell to last place. He recovered to finish seventh.
2022 Singapore Grand Prix Results
How was the Singapore Grand Prix
After a delayed start due to torrential rain, the whole peloton set off on intermediate tyres.
Perez had a great getaway and overtook pole-sitter Leclerc in the race at Turn 1, while Sainz took third from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 after a wheel brush before the top of Turn 2. Fernando Alonso of Alpine, doing his 350e Started in F1, ran sixth behind Norris.
Further back, Verstappen got off to a terrible start and cut the inside of Turn 1, dropping to 12e into the first lap from eighth on the grid, but quickly moved back into the top 10 on lap two.
Nicholas Latifi (Williams) knocked Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) into the wall approaching Turn 5 on lap seven, which brought out the first safety car to recover the struggling Alfa. Zhou’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas was also in the war when he was hit by George Russell’s Mercedes, which left the pit lane after an engine change.
Perez maintained his lead on the 11th lap flying restart, as Verstappen passed Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri to claim seventh. Verstappen then got stuck behind Alonso until the Spaniard’s engine failed on lap 21, prompting a virtual safety car for a few laps to tend to his car.
Russell gambled on the pits for the medium-compound slicks at this point, but was painfully slow as he struggled to keep the temperature down in them.
The comeback of Alex Albon, who threw his Williams into the wall on the first lap, found the wall at turn 8 on lap 26 and lost his front wing against the barriers, causing a second virtual safety car. A third followed quickly as the Alpine of Esteban Ocon expired on lap 28.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Verstappen nearly hit Norris at turn 7 before the restart, then attacked him hard for fifth. Hamilton went out in the tires at turn 7 on lap 33, joining Norris and Verstappen, but suffered damage to the front wing and endplate.
Leclerc pitted for medium slicks on lap 35 as soon as Russell set a fastest lap, as did Hamilton for a new nose section – dropping him down to ninth. Perez responded in kind a lap later, as did Sainz and Verstappen.
Yuki Tsunoda then crashed his slick-shod AlphaTauri at Turn 10, causing the second full safety car, and Norris took the opportunity to make his stop for the slicks.
The race turned green again with 35 minutes remaining in what was now a timed race, with Perez ahead of Leclerc, Sainz, Norris and Verstappen. Daniel Ricciardo had jumped up to sixth place in his McLaren, but had opted for soft rubber slicks.
Verstappen attacked Norris in Turn 7 but locked up and blew the corner, joining Hamilton in eighth but with huge flatspots and was forced to pit for soft slicks. He joined last, but moved up a place when Russell hit Mick Schumacher’s Haas and suffered a puncture.
On the slicks, Leclerc looked a lot more racy than before, as Perez reported engine issues. DRS was activated, further helping Leclerc as he attacked for the lead in the closing stages.
Just as he looked set to pass, Leclerc made a mistake and dropped out of DRS range, as Perez corrected his engine settings and pulled away. But Perez was facing an investigation from the stewards for a safety car breach and pushed hard to the finish to ensure his margin of victory was over 5 seconds, just in case.
Sainz finished third well ahead of Norris and Ricciardo. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin was next, while Hamilton offered Verstappen a place when he overshot Turn 8 trying to pass Vettel. Verstappen then passed Vettel on the final tour to grab seventh place.