Ferrari’s Sainz wins Singapore GP for second career win

Singapore, Sep 17: Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz capped off his superb performance in the last few days by claiming his second career victory, winning the Singapore Grand Prix here on Sunday.
Sainz, who topped the Friday free practice and claimed the pole on Saturday, held off the challenge by Lando Norris and the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell – who crashed on the final lap – to take a well-earned win.
The Madrid-born Spaniard held the lead from the start but with Charles Leclerc having opted to start on the softs, as opposed to those around him on the mediums, the Monegasque was able to jump ahead of Russell for second place.
Sainz, who has been the fastest driver this weekend, then navigated a Safety Car -– caused by Logan Sargeant crashing into the barrier –- to keep a hold of the lead, as he later held off the challenge of Russell, Norris, and Hamilton.
But after Esteban Ocon – running in sixth at the time – stopped on track with a suspected gearbox issue, Mercedes used the Virtual Safety Car to stop their drivers for some new medium tyres, setting up a grandstand finish.
But despite Russell and Hamilton getting past Leclerc, they could not overtake Sainz and Norris, with the Spaniard gifting his former McLaren teammate some DRS in the closing stages to hold off the Silver Arrows pair and seal a second career win. (IANS)