Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix Review

The Singapore Grand Prix has always been a taxing race for the drivers; the humidity hits, and the pressure under the white lights is high.

Hot and Fiery

The practice sessions were hot and fiery this week, as in the first session, Albon’s brakes overheated and caught fire. Luckily, his team was able to extinguish the fire, but he couldn’t continue this session. 

Several close calls with the walls here in Singapore, cars brushing past trying to get every inch of the car to work for them, and Alonso came out on top for the first practice session.

Antonelli had a big lock-up and dived down the run-off area, worried about crashing. Several cars had been doing this throughout all three practice sessions.

Shocking scenes in the 2nd practice session as cars drove out of their garages and Leclerc and Norris collided in the pit lane. Norris’s wing had to be replaced, and a hefty fine was imposed on Ferrari. 

Once the cars got going, Russel soon crashed into a wall, his entire front wing separating from his car, and the water sloshed around from the impact into the barrier. 

After the red flag was finished and the practice session had resumed, Lawson soon also found the barrier a slight touch, which took off his front left tyre and ended his practice session. 

Unfortunately, in the final practice session, Lawson crashed again. It has not been a good weekend for the Racing Bull driver or his engineers so far. 

A Critical Qualifying

Time for qualifying now, and with only a few more seconds till Q1 ends, we’re already a car down. Gasly experiences a power issue and drives off into the runoff areas, his engine failure prompting a yellow flag to be displayed. 

However, the final cars are finishing their laps, and Tsunoda makes it through. Unfortunately, it’s unlucky for Ocon, as he’s out in 19th. Alpine’s fears are realised as Colapinto also goes out, so both cars are out in Q1. 

Stroll races to the line, but it’s not enough, and he’s in 17th place as Bortoleto misses out on Q2. The rest of the cars go out ready to fight for their place in Q2. 

It’s bad news for Tsunoda as he finishes in 15th place alongside Lawson in 14th. An unfortunate end for Williams as both drivers are out; there were high hopes for them.  Hulkenberg joins them in 11th. 

Now for the final round of qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, Russel sets a tremendous lap at 1.29.165, the quickest ever seen, but with 6 minutes to go, all is still to play for. 

All the cars are desperate to beat Russel’s time, but none have done it so far. Alonso slots into 10th place with two rookies, Bearman and Hadjar, just ahead of him. A brilliant showing from these tremendous rookies.

The Ferrari duo were only able to reach 6th and 7th, and then Norris in 5th. We were expecting more from this McLaren. 

Antonelli soared into 4th position, an excellent qualifying for the young Italian, and then it’s between the top 3. Verstappen, Piastri, and Russel, who will come out on top?

Piastri puts in a fantastic lap, but it’s only enough for 3rd as Russel goes a tenth faster than his set time, setting the Singapore Grand Prix alight. 

Only one man can beat him, Verstappen. He’s on a flying final lap, but at the last second, he’s interrupted by Norris being ahead of him on a cool-down, which interferes with Verstappen, and he finishes his lap. 

Russel is the pole sitter for the race, a fantastic drive from him, let’s see if he can create a Mercedes win tomorrow.

After Russel secured 1st place, we found out that both Williams drivers had been disqualified for their rear wings being outside the weight regulations; they will now start from the back of the grid. 

Raring to go

An unusual track condition for the race, as it had been raining a few hours before the race. In some areas, the track is dry, and in other areas, it is still damp. Leading to the question of whether they start on slick tyres? 

Russel will be checking his mirrors for Verstappen on soft tyres, ready to launch ahead of him. Gasly and Albon start from the pit lane after changing their setups, so only 18 cars set up for the starting grid. 

Russel launched off the line and had a fantastic start, Verstappen immediately defending from Piastri. Norris has an aggressive start and managed to overtake 2 cars on the start, one being his teammate.

Norris has a damaged end plate on his front wing from Verstappen and Piastri. We will see if the FIA will call him in to make the change. Piastru is evidently not happy that his teammate has overtaken him. 

Russel could be thinking about a two-stop strategy as he soars away and starts building the gaps between him and his fellow drivers. 

Antonelli lost 2 places on the restart, and he has now slotted between both Ferraris and, after 6 laps, is desperate to overtake Leclerc. 

After 7 laps, a brief yellow flag was displayed as Ocon was experiencing a brake problem in his Haas, but he managed to continue for now. 

Hadjar and Alonso tangle together and keep swapping positions. Currently, on lap 12, Alonso is ahead of the young rookie in 8th place.

Russel is storming away and has been setting the fastest laps, and has created nearly a 7-second gap between him and Verstappen. 

Soon Verstappen will need to pit as he’s on soft tyres, but on lap 14, both Tsunoda and Bortoleto come into the pits. Bortoleto had a front wing change after contact on the first lap with Stroll. 

Norris had a close encounter with the wall; luckily, it seems to have only been a gentle touch and no noticeable damage. 

On lap 20, Verstappen comes into the pit and goes onto a hard tyre. It looks like they’re going for a 1-stop pit strategy. Vertsappen comes out in 7th place. Let’s see if Redbull’s undercut will work in their favour.

This leads to several cars entering the pit, as Hadjar and Leclerc pit, both coming out onto hard tyres, also opting for a 1-stop strategy. 

Russel is called in to pit on lap 26, and so is Antonelli, almost a double stack, well executed. 

A tricky moment for McLaren as Norris is asked if he’s letting Piastri pit first, but he isn’t. Norris pits on lap 27 and Piastri takes the lead. Norris comes out behind Verstappen but has newer tyres, so let’s see his pace. 

Piastri comes to the pit lap after, but it’s a slow stop, and he comes out in 4th behind Norris. Alonso also suffers a poor pit stop, dropping him to 15th.

We’re halfway through the race now, 31 laps done, and the humidity is setting in. Norris has been instructed to continue drinking, a requirement for all drivers to survive this race.

Verstappen locked up and nearly drove off into the run-off area, and Alonso and Hadjar were back fighting strongly together. Hadjar was fighting hard, but Alonso managed to regain his position ahead. 

Norris is now only 1.6 seconds away from Verstappen after his mistake on the previous lap. Verstappen is struggling with his braking; his car is definitely working in this heat. 

A big fight between Hulkenburg, Colapinto, and Tsunoda, and some front wing damage comes off, and a few laps later, Hulkenburg spins off into the run-off area but manages to keep going. 

On Lap 46, Norris is within a second of Max, meaning he has a DRS advantage over Verstappen, which might help him overtake.

Antonelli overtook Leclerc with only 8 laps to go, and the fight between Verstappen and Norris was hard then. Piastri is gaining on Norris, trying to finish in proximity. Stroll managed to overtake Bortoleto. 

Leclerc and Hamilton switch places as Hamilton is on soft tyres and has a chance to try and overtake Antonelli in 5th place. 

Russel is managing well, balancing his tyres with a few laps to go, whilst the other cars fight hard to the end, desperate to get ahead of their rival.

The top four are all closely ranked. Still, unfortunately, Norris can’t quite overtake him, but slots into 3rd, and Verstappen secures 2nd place on the podium, and Russel clenches victory at the Singapore Grand Prix. 

In the final lap, Hamilton worryingly lost all brake power in his car, meaning he was struggling to reach the finish line and had to cut corners to stay ahead of Alonso, who was desperately trying to catch up. He did so in the race, but the FIA gave him a 5-second penalty for exceeding the track limits, meaning he finished in 8th place. 

An honourable mention to Carlos Sainz, who started 18th and finished 10th, managing to score an extra point for Williams. 

McLaren, the Constructors’ Champions

Huge congratulations to McLaren as they have won the Constructors’ World Championship for the 2nd year in a row, with still races to go in the 2025 season. Their dominance this season has not gone unnoticed. 

The driver standings, however, are still to be decided, with a tight battle between the McLaren drivers, and we can’t rule out Verstappen creeping up behind them.

A thrilling end to a race under the stark white lights beaming down on the drivers. The Singapore Grand Prix is over, and in two weeks’ time, we meet again in the USA.

Austin, Texas, here we come!