George Russell wins F1's Singapore GP as McLaren secures constructors' title

SINGAPORE (AP) — McLaren was crowned Formula 1's top team at the Singapore Grand Prix on a tricky day for all three of the main contenders for the drivers' title.

George Russell won the race in dominant style Sunday as McLaren secured the Formula 1 constructors’ championship with six races to go.

Russell stayed in control from pole position to take his and Mercedes' second win of the year ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who held off Lando Norris for second place despite struggling with car problems.

Verstappen may have got the better of the two McLaren drivers, but it was little help to his title defense, since he didn't make significant inroads into their large points advantage.

Norris said it was “a shame” to spend much of the race staring at the back of Verstappen's car, while standings leader Oscar Piastri was aggrieved over Norris colliding with him as he overtook at the start.

“We don’t really know where this performance came from,” admitted Russell, who said he'd expected Mercedes to struggle on Singapore's tight, twisty street circuit.

It was a personal milestone for Russell, who crashed on the last lap while fighting for the podium places in Singapore in 2023.

“It feels amazing, especially after what happened a couple of years ago. It was a bit of a missed opportunity, but we more than made up for it today," he said.

Norris banged wheels with his McLaren teammate Piastri, who finished fourth, as he overtook at the start. Piastri complained to the team over the radio about Norris' driving.

“Are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way?” the Australian asked.

"I had a small correction but nothing more than that. It was good racing," Norris said after the race.

Norris cut into Piastri’s standings lead for the third race in a row. The Australian now leads Norris by 22 points, with Verstappen 41 further back.

Piastri finished outside the top three in back-to-back races for the first time since the Australian Grand Prix in March.

Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli recovered to finish fifth after a poor start. Lewis Hamilton was closing on the Italian near the end when the brakes on the seven-time champion’s Ferrari failed.

Leclerc in the other Ferrari then passed Hamilton for sixth. The British driver only just held onto seventh in his ailing car ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, but lost the place anyway after getting a five-second penalty for going off-track while struggling with his brake problem.

That lifted Alonso to seventh and dropped Hamilton to eighth, while Oliver Bearman was ninth for Haas and Carlos Sainz, Jr. took a point in 10th despite having to start near the back of the grid for a technical infringement.

It was the first F1 race to be officially declared a “heat hazard” by the governing body, the FIA, under new rules that came in this season.

The heat and humidity in Singapore have long been a challenge for drivers, who were required to have cooling equipment fitted in their cars. Some, like Verstappen, chose not to wear the associated cooling vest.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain powers his car during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain kisses his trophy as he celebrates after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain leads the field after the start during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands in action during the qualifying for the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was scrapping U.S. tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and a broad swath of other commodities — a dramatic move that comes amid mounting pressure on his administration to better combat high consumer prices.

Trump has built his second term around imposing steep levies on goods imported into the U.S. in hopes of encouraging domestic production and lifting the U.S. economy. His abrupt retreat from his signature tariff policy on so many staples key to the American diet is significant, and it comes after voters in off-year elections this month cited economic concerns as their top issue, resulting in big wins for Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey and other key races around the country.

“We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee,” Trump said aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida hours after the tariff announcement was made.

Pressed on his tariffs helping to increase consumer prices, Trump acknowledged, “I say they may, in some cases" have that effect.

“But to a large extent they’ve been borne by other countries,” the president added.

Meanwhile, inflation — despite Trump's pronouncements that it has vanished since he took office in January — remains elevated, further increasing pressure on U.S. consumers.

The Trump administration has insisted that its tariffs had helped fill government coffers and weren't a major factor in higher prices at grocery stores around the country. But Democrats were quick to paint Friday's move as an acknowledgement that Trump's policies were hurting American pocketbooks.

“President Trump is finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the American people," Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer said in a statement. “After getting drubbed in recent elections because of voters’ fury that Trump has broken his promises to fix inflation, the White House is trying to cast this tariff retreat as a ‘pivot to affordability.'"

Trump slapped tariffs on most countries around the globe in April. He and his administration still say that tariffs don’t increase consumer prices, despite economic evidence to the contrary.

Record-high beef prices have been a particular concern, and Trump had said he intended to take action to try and lower them. Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, had been a factor.

Trump signed an executive order that also removes tariffs on tea, fruit juice, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes and certain fertilizers. Some of the products covered aren’t produced in the United States, meaning that tariffs meant to spur domestic production had little effect. But reducing the tariffs will still likely mean lower prices for U.S. consumers.

The Food Industry Association, which represents retailers, producers and a variety of related industry firms and services, applauded Trump's move to provide “swift tariff relief,” noting that import U.S. taxes "are an important factor” in a “complex mix” of supply chain issues.

“President Trump’s proclamation to reduce tariffs on a substantial volume of food imports is a critical step ensuring continued adequate supply at prices consumers can afford,” the association said in a statement.

In explaining the tariff reductions, the White House said Friday that some of the original levies Trump relished imposing on nearly every country on earth months ago were actually no longer necessary given the trade agreements he'd since hammered out with key U.S. trading partners.

Indeed, Friday's announcement follows the Trump administration having reached framework agreements with Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador and Argentina meant to increase the ability of U.S. firms to sell industrial and agricultural products in these countries, while also potentially easing tariffs on agricultural products produced there.

During an interview that aired earlier in the week with Laura Ingraham of Fox News Channel, Trump hinted that lower tariffs might be coming.

“Coffee, we’re going to lower some tariffs,” the president said then. “We’re going to have some coffee come in.”

Despite pulling back on so many tariffs, Trump used his comments aboard Air Force One on Friday night to repeat his past assertions that his administration would use revenue the federal government has collected from import levies to fund $2,000 checks for many Americans.

The president suggested such checks could be issued in 2026, but was vague on timing, saying only, “Sometime during the year.” Trump, however, also said federal tariff revenue might be used to pay down national debt — raising questions about how much federal funding would be needed to do both.

Trump rejected suggestions that attempting direct payments to Americans could exacerbate inflation concerns — even as he suggested that similar checks offered during the coronavirus pandemic, and by previous administrations to stimulate the economy, had that very effect.

“This is money earned as opposed to money that was made up,” Trump said. “Everybody but the rich will get this. That’s not made up. That’s real money. That comes from other countries.”

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Associated Press writer Chris Megerian on Air Force One contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on Air Force One on his way to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on his way to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event on foster care in the East Room of the at the White House, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)