Lewis Hamilton secured the extra point for fastest lap of the race at the Singapore GP on his way to finish third.
The British driver tried to chase down eventual winner Carlos Sainz and the McLaren of Lando Norris in second after stopping for fresh medium tyres during a late safety car, but was unable to usurp the pair.
Hamilton did however get on the podium only thanks to a heartbreaking crash for teammate George Russell, who had looked the stronger of the two Mercedes drivers across the weekend, as he attempted to catch Norris from P3.
That promoted the seven-time champion to his fifth podium of the year and his first since his home British GP at Silverstone.
Late chase
Despite their evident speed advantage, the Mercedes duo couldn’t capitalize in time to overtake the leading Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc had to content himself with a fourth-place finish, hindered by a pit lane delay during a prior safety car incident involving Logan Sargeant’s Williams. The Monegasque driver had put up a strong defensive performance to assist his teammate in the race’s initial phases.
Max Verstappen seemed inevitably set to see his unprecedented winning streak come to a halt after a lacklustre weekend and an 11th-place qualification. However, the reigning champion managed to claw his way back to a fifth-place finish, ahead of Pierre Gasly.
Red Bull took a risk by not pitting during the early safety car period triggered by Sargeant’s incident, hoping for another race disruption that never materialized.
As a result, Sergio Perez could only manage an eighth-place finish, trailing Oscar Piastri, who bounced back from a challenging qualification to secure seventh for McLaren.
