Both SF-25s were fitted with Medium tyres for the start. On the clean side of the track, Charles was able to get ahead of Lewis and Kimi Antonelli to move up to fifth on the opening lap.
Hamilton was seventh. On lap 22, Leclerc pitted for Hards, rejoining tenth behind Nico Hulkenberg, whom he passed immediately. Hamilton came in on lap 25, also rejoining behid the German. After Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman and Antonelli pitted, Charles and Lewis were again fifth and seventh. On lap 47, unable to pass Antonelli on track, Lewis pitted for used Softs without losing position. On lap 54, Antonelli got past Leclerc who thus dropped to sixth and on the next lap, the Monegasque let his team-mate by as he was on fresher tyres. On lap 59, Lewis began to have problems with brake temperature and Charles again moved ahead of him on the following lap. Charles took the chequered flag in sixth place, while Lewis was able to fend off a late attack from Alonso to finish seventh. After the race, Lewis was given a 5 second penalty for leaving the track multiple times and this has dropped him to eighth place. The Championship heads for the Circuit of the Americas which hosts the United States Grand Prix on Sunday 19 October.
Charles Leclerc: It was a really difficult race, unfortunately, a reflection of the whole weekend. Right from Friday, we struggled to find the right feeling with the car and we never managed to put everything together in the way we would have wanted. Today, in traffic it was impossible to move forward, as we also had to deal with cooling problems. Sadly, where we finished reflects where we are today.
Over the past two races we have encountered various difficulties that we must now analyse in detail, so that we can start improving again. The aim is to be better prepared and ready to fight with our main rivals in two weeks' time in the United States.
Lewis Hamilton: It has been a challenging couple of days but there were definitely some positives to take. I've felt good in the car all weekend and we had a strong final third of the race. The Softs gave us great attacking pace and meant I could close down a big gap to the cars ahead, but unfortunately a brake issue cost us the overtake and the chance to score more points.
We had the potential to be further ahead this weekend, starting from qualifying, so the focus now is on maximising what we have going into Austin and executing cleanly to bring home as many points as possible.
Fred Vasseur: First of all congratulations to McLaren for winning the Constructors' Championship, it's well deserved. On our side it was a tough weekend. We had a strong start of the weekend and after that we didn't extract the full potential from the car in quali. In the race, cooling was an issue right from the beginning although when we were in clean air the pace was decent. Over the last 15 laps, Lewis had mega pace, but he pushed so hard to catch up those ahead that in the end he had a problem with the brakes overheating.
Clearly, the last couple of races, we have been a step behind our rivals. We need to improve the potential of the car and also our overall execution of the race weekend to ensure we are getting the best out of the car and from the drivers, because for sure, results like today's are frustrating.
Starting from Austin, we need to get back to being in a position to have good pace throughout the entire weekend.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Marina Bay here.
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