Max Verstappen will have to wait at least another week to claim a second consecutive Formula One world championship.
Verstappen was unable to clinch the title Sunday as the Singapore Grand Prix belonged his Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver snagged the lead from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc on the opening lap and took the checkered flag.
Leclerc and Carlos Sainz made it a 2-3 Ferrari finish on the podium.
Here's a rundown of what you need to know:
Perez turned in a dominant drive Sunday around the tricky and treacherous track that was only made worse with an hour-long delay due to wet conditions. Being a night race didn't help improve the on-track conditions either as it remained a wet and wild event.
Although Perez started second on the grid, he was able to get up to speed faster than Leclerc to slide into P1 before the first turn and never looked back. A figure of speech as Perez had Leclerc in his mirrors for a majority of the race and the rest of the field drifted far behind. Even multiple safety car cautions, both of the virtual and actual variety, did little to keep the gap closed as Perez and Leclerc continued to pull away.
There was some drama following the finish as officials opted to wait until well after the race had ended to investigate and subsequently penalize Perez for falling more than 10 car lengths behind the safety car three times. Luckily for Perez, he crossed the line roughly 7.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc and was able to keep the victory after the FIA dinged him with a five-second penalty.
Also interesting to note it was Perez's third victory since joining Red Bull last season with all three coincidentally (or maybe not) happening at street circuits.
While Verstappen had an opportunity to clinch the drivers' championship, he had already admitted it would be a "longshot" as doing so would require him to win the race plus outscore Leclerc by 22 points and Perez by at least 14.
This wasn't an either/or situation but an "all of the above" scenario and Verstappen's already tempered expectations came before qualifying had him in an uphill battle.
Verstappen seemed to be on target to secure pole position during Q3 Saturday when he was forced to abandon his lap as Red Bull called him into the pits due to a fuel issue.
Teams have to provide a fuel sample after qualifying. If they're unable to submit one, their car could be penalized and forced to start from the back of the pack.
That wasn't immediately relayed to Verstappen, who reacted in only the way you would expect Verstappen to react, of course.
Gee, you'd think Ferrari was calling the shots. (Just kidding.)
Verstappen qualified P8 and we've seen him win from farther back on the starting grid, however, he got off on the wrong foot — perhaps literally as his car appeared to almost go into anti-stall mode — and dropped down the order.
It looked like Verstappen had returned to form as he challenged McLaren's Lando Norris for P4 until locking up his brakes and going for a spin. Verstappen plummeted down the board all the way into P14, last among drivers remaining in the race, but he was able to quickly regain a spot after Mercedes driver George Russell sustained a punctured tire.
Verstappen continued to pick off the field in front of him and finished in seventh place thanks to Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes locking up late into the barrier and conceding his spot.
Verstappen's five-race winning streak came to a forgettable end although he continues to dominate the standings. The 25-year-old Verstappen could still clinch the title next week in Japan with a 104-point advantage over Leclerc, and Perez sitting an additional two points back.
Leclerc started on pole position for the eighth time this season — more than any other driver. However, he's only been able to convert two of those poles into victories and both came within the first three races of the season.
Verstappen has more victories (five) when Leclerc starts P1 than Leclerc himself.
"Arghhh, bad start and then pushing flat out till the end but never really had the chance to get the position back," Leclerc said on Twitter.
Overall during his four seasons with Ferrari, Leclerc has generated just four wins from his 18 poles — a "success" rate of 22.2 per cent. By comparison, Verstappen is 10 for 17 or 58.8 per cent.
Ferrari and Leclerc have to figure out how to not just turn in one hot lap but 60, give or take, on a consistent basis.
Both Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso (driving in his record 350th race) experienced engine problems and McLaren capitalized to leapfrog into fourth place in the constructors' championship with a slim four-point advantage.
While Alpine lamented their first double DNF of 2022, the McLaren duo of Norris (fourth) and Daniel Ricciardo (season-high fifth) turned in double points for the papaya team.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin had its best weekend of the season with Lance Stroll finishing a season-high sixth place and Sebastian Vettel also into the points in eighth.
Aston Martin jumped from ninth on the table all the way up into seventh with Haas continuing to trend in the wrong direction — a seventh straight race without any points — and AlphaTauri also struggling with Pierre Gasly grabbing the final points-paying position of P10 and Yuki Tsunoda crashing out.
The Haas team is still winning on Twitter, though.
Verstappen will not have to wait long for another crack at clinching the title with the Japanese Grand Prix next Sunday at the Suzuka International Racing Course. Like Singapore, it'll be the first time the race has been held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Valtteri Bottas is the defending race winner although he claimed that victory while still with Mercedes.
