Singapore Grand Prix LIVE: Latest as Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen after Red Bull pass Sebastian Vettel

Follow the latest from the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore

Formula 1: Official intro video

Lewis Hamilton started the Singapore Grand Prix from a surprise pole position alongside Max Verstappen after Sebastian Vettel could only manage third in qualifying, despite looking to have the fastest car in the field.

With Hamilton 30 points ahead of Vettel in the drivers’ championship standings, the Mercedes driver knows he will leave Singapore ahead of his Ferrari rival no matter what, but on the tight and twisty streets of the Marina Bay Circuit he stands a great chance of extending hit lead in the race to a fifth world title.

But Verstappen could easily upset the party on a track that favours the Red Bull, although he heads into the start of the race with concerns over how long his Renault engine will last after gremlins emerged during practice. Vettel, starting in third, has Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas alongside him, while Kimi Raikkonen is joined by Daniel Ricciardo on the third row.

Follow the live action below...

Please allow a moment for the blog to load...

What time does the race start?

The Singapore Grand Prix begins at 1:10pm BST on Sunday 16 September.

Where can I watch it?

The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 from 11:30am BST, and on Channel 4 from 12pm BST.

Starting grid

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 36.015secs

2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:36.334

3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:36.628

4 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:36.702

5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36.794

6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:36.996

7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:37.985

8 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:38.320

9 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:38.365

10 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:38.588

11 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:38.641

12 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault 1:38.716

13 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.747

14 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.453

15 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.691

16 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:39.644

17 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.809

18 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:39.864

19 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams 1:41.263

20 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:41.334

Key Points

• The Singapore Grand Prix starts at 1:10pm BST
• Race is being shown live on Sky Sports and Channel 4
• Lewis Hamilton starts from pole position ahead of Max Verstappen
• Sebastian Vettel could only manage third in a disappointing qualifying session

[16 September 2018 14:59 · Jack de Menezes]

Lap 58: The front three looks to be sorted here as Hamilton's lead is out to 6.6s, and Vettel - supposedly in the fastest car - is a whopping 23s behind Verstappen. The battle is still very much on for fourth though.

[16 September 2018 15:01 · Jack de Menezes]

Lap 59: Ricciardo's been held up slightly by Sirotkin as the trio lapped him for what feels like the 100th time, and that leaves a two-horse race for fourth.

Two laps to go...

[16 September 2018 15:03 · Jack de Menezes]

Lap 61: Hamilton starts the final lap!

[16 September 2018 15:05 · Jack de Menezes]

CHEQUERED FLAG! LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX!

[16 September 2018 15:06 · Jack de Menezes]

Results:

1. Lewis Hamilton

2. Max Verstappen

3. Sebastian Vettel

4. Valtteri Bottas

5. Kimi Raikkonen

6. Daniel Ricciardo

7. Fernando Alonso

8. Carlos Sainz

9. Charles Leclerc

10. Nico Hulkenberg

[16 September 2018 15:08 · Jack de Menezes]

Lewis Hamilton on his radio:

What a weekend, all the guys in the factory. Keep pushing, keep pushing, we've got this!

[16 September 2018 15:10 · Jack de Menezes]

CHEQUERED FLAG: Hamilton takes his time getting out of the Mercedes, but when he does he punches the air with a huge smile on his face.

[16 September 2018 15:16 · Jack de Menezes]

Lewis Hamilton:

"I'm spent. That was a tough race. I've got such great support here and we had a great start, the team have just never given up believe and faith in myself and in Valtteri, That was just such a long race, one of the toughest of my career and I'm glad it's over. But what a race, what a weekend.

On getting through the backmarkers:

"I think I was a bit unlucky with the traffic and these guys were moving around and were difficult to follow. Max got a bit lucky but eventually I got through it and built the gap back.

On Ferrari:

"They put up a great fight this weekend but I'm not sure where their pace disappeared to."

[16 September 2018 15:17 · Jack de Menezes]

Max Verstappen:

"It was not bad, shame for the first lap but you could see we missed top speed. We got back into second with good strategy though and tried to chase down Lewis, but he had too much."

On his car troubles:

"It was not a perfect getaway but behind the safety car I was bogging down and missing gears. But a good result."

[16 September 2018 15:18 · Jack de Menezes]

Sebastian Vettel:

Yeah it’s true, overall we were not fast enough, we didn’t have the pace in the race. But we tried to be aggressive at the beginning and it didn’t work out. After that I was on a different tyre and just lost too much time."

On the 40-point deficit to Hamilton:

"It doesn’t help. Obviously I'm thinking about today's race and the way we race we didn’t have a chance. There might be something else in that we weren't quick enough but I said before the weekend that we can only beat ourselves and we haven’t got the most out of our package."