Max Vestappen's champagne on ice as Sergio Perez wins rain-delayed Singapore Grand Prix

Max Verstappen's wait for a second world championship goes on after he spun and finished seventh as Sergio Perez won Sunday’s chaotic rain-hit Singapore Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s Perez took the chequered flag ahead of Charles Leclerc with his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz completing the podium. Lando Norris finished fourth.

Lewis Hamilton started third but finished a disappointing ninth after he hit the wall, while Verstappen dropped from fifth after a banzai move on Norris backfired.

Verstappen heads to next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix with a 104-point championship lead. He needs to leave Suzuka 112 points clear to take the title and the Dutchman will be crowned champion in Japan if he wins and sets the fastest lap.

Perez's triumph is subject to an investigation following an alleged infringement behind the safety car. The Mexican took the chequered flag 7.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc.

The start of Sunday’s race under the thousand of bulbs that light up the Marina Bay Circuit was delayed by one hour and five minutes following a huge downpour.

Perez made no mistake when the signal turned to green by beating Leclerc to the opening chicane in the damp conditions.

Hamilton dropped behind Sainz as they duelled at the first chicane, with the former forced to take to the escape road. "I got hit by Sainz," said Hamilton. "He sent me wide."

Verstappen, who needed to win here to stand any chance of securing back-to-back titles with five rounds spare, started down the order in eighth after his Red Bull team under-fuelled his machine in qualifying, and dropped to 12th following a poor getaway.

The first safety car was sent out on lap eight when Nicholas Latifi banged wheels with Zhou Guanyu.

Latifi moved across to defend his position but left