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.

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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)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Residents of Dubai and Doha, Qatar, awoke to the sound of explosions Tuesday as air defenses worked to intercept new waves of incoming Iranian fire, and Israel launched new strikes on Iran and Lebanon, as the war in the Middle East showed no signs of abating.

Dubai, a major transit hub for international travel, briefly shut its airspace as the military said it was “responding to incoming missile and drone threats” around the city.

The Israeli military said early Tuesday it had begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Israel also reported two incoming salvos before dawn from Iran at Tel Aviv and elsewhere, and said Hezbollah targeted Israel's north.

Iran kept up the pressure on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbors, hitting an oil facility in Fujairah, a UAE emirate on the country’s east coast with the Gulf of Oman that has been repeatedly targeted. State-run WAM news reported that no one had been injured in the blast from the drone strike.

In Abu Dhabi, a man was killed by falling shrapnel when the capital's defenses shot down a missile, the eighth person to die in the UAE since the start of the war, authorities said.

Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, has given rise to increasing concerns of a global energy crisis. Early Tuesday it hit a tanker anchored off the coast of Fujairah, one of about 20 vessels hit since Israel and the United States started the war with an attack on Iran on Feb. 28.

With Washington under increasing pressure over rising oil prices, Brent crude, the international standard, remained over $100 a barrel, up more than 40% since the war started.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had demanded that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. But his appeals brought no immediate commitments, with many saying they are hesitant to get involved in a war with no defined exit plan and skeptical that they could do more than the U.S. Navy.

The UAE shut down its airspace early Tuesday as its military reported it was “responding to missile and drone threats from Iran." The closure was soon lifted, and not long after the sounds of explosions could be heard as the military worked to intercept incoming fire.

The snap announcement on its airspace showed the balancing act Emirati authorities face in trying to keep their long-haul carriers, Emirates and Etihad, flying as Iranian attacks continue to target the country.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting a dozen drones Tuesday morning over the country’s vast Eastern Province, home to oil infrastructure.

In Qatar, the sounds of explosions boomed over the capital early in the day as defenses worked to intercept incoming fire. Qatar's Defense Ministry said later that it had successfully thwarted a missile attack on the city, though a fire broke out in an industrial area from a downed projectile.

Attacks from Iran-linked proxy forces continued in Iraq, as the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was hit with shrapnel from drones that had been intercepted.

The embassy's air defenses were able to shoot down all four drones targeting the facility, according to two Iraqi security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

A separate strike targeted a house in the heavily fortified Presidential Compound in Baghdad’s al-Jadriya area, the officials said. It wasn’t clear who carried out either attack but Iran-allied militias have regularly been attacking American targets inside Iraq since the conflict began.

The Israeli military early Tuesday said it had launched new attacks across Tehran in addition to the Lebanese capital targeting Hezbollah militants.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the conflict, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

Israel’s strikes have also displaced more than 1 million Lebanese — or roughly 20% of the population — according to the Lebanese government, which says some 850 people have been killed.

Some Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon, and there are fears Israel is preparing a large-scale invasion.

The military's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said Monday on a visit to the northern border that Israel's army is “determined to deepen the operation until all of our objectives are achieved” and that the military's Northern Command is being reinforced with additional soldiers.

Israel reported two Iranian salvos early Tuesday fired toward Tel Aviv and an area south of the Sea of Galilee. More launches from Lebanon were also reported.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.

The virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is unnerving the world economy, driving up energy prices, threatening food shortages in poor countries, destabilizing fragile states and complicating efforts by central banks to drive down prices for consumers.

There have been a handful of ships getting through, primarily Iranian but also from other countries including India and Turkey, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “from our perspective it is open” — just not for the United States, Israel and its allies.

Underscoring the danger of even getting close to the strait, a tanker anchored off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates was hit by a projectile early Tuesday morning.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military, reported the attack, saying the vessel was in the Gulf of Oman off Fujairah. It said the tanker sustained “minor structural damage” and no one was hurt.

On Monday, Trump said “numerous countries” have told him “they’re on the way” to help police the Strait of Hormuz but there was no sign of that actually happening.

Europeans have been critical of the U.S. and Israel for failing to provide clarity on their objectives in the war and have suggested that they are more interested in a diplomatic solution than getting dragged into the conflict.

Japan and Australia said Monday they had not been asked to help protect the strait and had no current plans to do so, and Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said his country favors strengthening anti-piracy and defensive missions in the Red Sea, but not expanding their role in the Strait of Hormuz.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his country might deploy mine-hunting drones already in the region, but “will not be drawn into the wider war.”

Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Giovanna Dell'Orto in Miami, Florida; and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

A view of a building damaged in an Israeli airstrike, in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

U.S. Embassy is seen across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Fire and plumes of smoke rises after a drone struck a fuel tank forcing the temporary suspension of flights. near Dubai International Airport, in United Arab Emirates, early Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo)

Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)