Sergio Perez beats Charles Leclerc in Singapore despite five-second penalty

SINGAPORE -- Sergio Perez overcame a five-second time penalty and a late charge from Charles Leclerc to win an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix.

Perez, who started second, took the lead from Leclerc on the run to the first corner and held on through three virtual safety car periods and two full safety cars to beat the Ferrari driver by 7.5 seconds at the chequered flag. However, he and Red Bull were made to sweat over the victory as on three occasions the stewards noted Perez falling 10 car lengths behind the final safety car, incidents that were investigated after the race.

After two hours of deliberation, Perez was handed a five-second penalty over one incident, and a warning and reprimand over the others, crucially ensuring he would hold on to what is his second win of the season and fourth of his career.

Singapore marks the seventh consecutive pole position Leclerc has been unable to convert into a win, though he does hold on to second place in the drivers' standings by two points from Perez heading to Japan.

Carlos Sainz completed a double podium for Ferrari by finishing third, the team's first such result since May's Miami Grand Prix.

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Championship leader Max Verstappen finished in seventh place after locking up and running wide at Turn 7 while attempting an overtake on Lando Norris for fourth on Lap 40. The incident happened just after a safety car restart, with track conditions still damp off the racing line, and dropped Verstappen to the back of the pack when he pitted for fresh tyres.

Verstappen's result means his championship lead is cut to 103 points to Leclerc, and 105 points to Perez, with Verstappen needing a lead of 112 points after the next race at Suzuka to clinch the championship with four rounds remaining.

Lewis Hamilton also threw away a shot at a top-four finish when he locked up and ran wide into the barriers at Turn 7. He had been battling Sainz for third place for the entire race and radioed the team shortly after his mistake saying: "I'm so sorry about that guys, I f---ed that up big time."

Monsoonal rain accompanied by lightning strikes hit Marina Bay 75 minutes out from the scheduled 8 p.m. local start time, forcing an indefinite delay of the race start procedure.

The inclement weather persisted for close to an hour before easing off but left pools of standing water scattered around the circuit. Marshals quickly began drying the track as race control announced a new grand prix start time of 9.05 p.m.

The race got underway with all drivers running intermediate tyres and braving the treacherous conditions. Once again, Singapore's street circuit proved difficult to overtake on, with little action in the early stages.

But the race came alive when drivers began ditching the intermediates for slicks between Laps 34 and 37.

Williams' Alex Albon and AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda both retired from the race after putting their cars into the barriers, leading to further safety car interventions.

After the final restart, Leclerc looked as though he might be able to get the better of Perez. For five laps the pair were split by less than a second, with Leclerc enjoying the DRS advantage. But Perez was able to shake him, creating enough of a gap to ease the pressure, in a drive team boss Christian Horner labelled "the best of his career."

McLaren enjoyed its best weekend of what's been a difficult season, with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Both drivers benefited from the carnage around them and late stops under the safety car, particularly Ricciardo, who had started 16th on the grid.

Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel gave Aston Martin the team's second double-points finish of the year, the pair sandwiching Verstappen in seventh.

Pierre Gasly took the final points scoring position, finishing behind Hamilton in 10th. Valtteri Bottas came home in 11th for Alfa Romeo, with the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher just behind.

George Russell failed to finish in the top five for just the second time this season. The Mercedes driver was another who had an incident-filled race, eventually finishing 14th. He did set the fastest lap of the race, although he won't receive a point for his effort having finished outside the top 10.

Six drivers failed to finish the grand prix. Zhou Guanyu and Nicholas Latifi collided early to bring out the first safety car, before Tsunoda's and Albon's mistakes.

It was a horrid evening for Alpine with Fernando Alonso -- who was celebrating his 350th race start -- and Esteban Ocon both retiring before half-race distance with engine issues.