Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez wins F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2022
Singapore F1 GP Auto Racing Red Bull driver Sergio Perez of Mexico celebrates after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, at the Marina Bay City Circuit in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. - AP Photo/Vincent Thian
SINGAPORE: Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing emerged as the winner of Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2022, despite the tight race with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who finished second.
The Mexican is the first driver to win both the Monaco and Singapore Grands Prix in the same season since Sebastian Vettel in 2011.
"That is my best performance (in F1). The last three laps were so intense. I gave everything for the win," said Perez after the night race.
"To keep Charles (Leclerc) behind, especially after the restart, when the (tyre) warm-up was super hard with half the track on the dry side, and the other half was good enough for inters," he added.
Perez dominated every lap and retained the win despite a five-second time penalty and two penalty points on his license from the stewards' post-race for falling more than 10 car lengths of the Safety Car on lap 36.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes who had won the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix four times, finish at ninth place.
The seven-time world champion experienced multiple incidents including contact at the start with Carlos Sainz of Ferrari who finished third.
The start of the thrilling finale had been delayed after heavy downpour hit the island city just over an hour before the race was scheduled to start.
The race kicked off at 9.05 pm from original time set at 8.00 pm with Leclerc in pole position, Perez in second, and Hamilton third on the grid.
The night race was held at the 5.063 km long Marina Bay Street Circuit here with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly completing the top-10, in a race of attrition that saw just 14 finishers.
-- BERNAMA
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