In the end, the Singapore Grand Prix will certainly not go down in history for its entertainment and surprises. On the overtaking front, there was a bit more action than in the past, with the addition of a fourth DRS zone, but generally, the race followed a predictable script.
Lando Norris, after finally managing to hold the lead on the first lap (which is already news), left the group behind and embarked on a completely solitary escape, showcasing the literally astronomical performance level that McLaren has now achieved on a track that isn’t very demanding aerodynamically. Norris lapped everyone up to eighth place on a roughly 5 km track with lap times around 1 minute and 40 seconds, a remarkable feat considering that it rarely happened lately due to the tighter grid—a true dominance. Behind him was an excellent Verstappen, regaining a performance worthy of his level, with an RB20 unable to keep pace with the MCL38, but still transformed from Friday to Saturday in a way that made it manageable for the three-time World Champion.
The engineers at Milton Keynes chose to shift the balance from mechanical to aerodynamic, heavily loading the latter and stiffening the suspension, giving Verstappen a car that reacted as he expected, which was enough to carefully manage a second place that, from a championship perspective, is as valuable as a victory given the weekend’s premises. In the other garage, Sergio Perez had a nightmare weekend, starting from qualifying and continuing into a lackluster race, unable to find the necessary pace to attack Haas’s excellent Nico Hulkenberg, as the Mexican pointed out over the radio, with the stiff setup causing a bounce over the track’s bumps, making it virtually impossible for him to find good traction out of corners.
Max Verstappen easily overcame Oscar Piastri and the Mercedes, with the Australian wasting a front-row start in qualifying due to a mistake at the penultimate corner and suffering throughout the first stint behind George Russell. The Brackley team had a fluctuating and not entirely clear approach to the Singapore weekend. The relatively low downforce setup seemed to pay off in lap times with excellent traction and acceleration compensating for deficits in slow sections. However, the W15 only shone with Hamilton during his qualifying lap and never seemed to have the pace of the leaders. The strategy chosen for Hamilton at the start of the race, starting on soft tires, also appeared somewhat puzzling since Russell started behind the seven-time champion, and it turned into a half ordeal for Hamilton, with an incredibly long second stint and finishing in sixth after starting third, yielding positions to Piastri, Russell, and Leclerc. This isn’t the first time this year that Brackley strategists have come up with unprofitable ideas, especially when it seems they lack clarity on performance windows and setups. Overall, the Mercedes setup can’t be deemed “wrong,” but compared to those ahead and Ferrari, they were clearly the slowest. However, they ended with a higher points total than Ferrari, thanks to a total blackout on Saturday for the Maranello team, partially recovered with a strong race.
The analysis of Ferrari is actually very simple this time. The SF24 was likely the second fastest car on track, potentially battling with Norris, but more probably just behind, either in front of or in contention with Max Verstappen. Clearly, everything was ruined by qualifying, with Sainz hitting the wall and Leclerc facing all the issues we saw on Saturday. The race for the reds was, in fact, one of the best of the year, with both drivers on different strategies from those around them, and both were correct, allowing them to recover positions. Interestingly, the average lap times during the second stint were almost identical among Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and Charles Leclerc, but each faced different conditions, with Norris and Verstappen managing their pace while Leclerc was fighting to catch Russell on fresher tires, only to get blocked at the end of the race when he couldn’t pass. Frederick Vasseur believes the reds’ pace was comparable to Norris’s, but there’s some doubt about whether the Englishman was truly vulnerable, given his exceptional form throughout the weekend. Obviously, Ferrari wasted an important opportunity, even just for a podium and valuable points. Given Leclerc’s statements after the race, where he retracted his earlier nervousness, some doubt remains about the responsibility for what happened to the Monegasque. In hindsight, simply avoiding track limits at the start of the lap would have helped him gain two grid positions, allowing him to start right in front of Alonso, keeping him closer to the podium area instead of giving the leaders a half-minute advantage in the first stint. During qualifying, Leclerc lacked grip in the first sector, indicating something went wrong with the tires from the moment he left the pits, but the Monegasque’s “all or nothing” mindset, which clearly affected his clarity during the lap, troubled by tire preparation issues, does not yield good results in such a tightly contested Formula 1.
After the Singapore Grand Prix, Formula 1 now faces a second break of about a month, similar to the summer one, but with the crucial difference that there is no mandatory shutdown. This means teams can continue to develop for what will likely be the last round of updates on a perfect track to test them: the Texas circuit is very demanding both aerodynamically, with its many long, fast corners, and mechanically, with an asphalt and curbs that are always tricky to manage. From there, we’ll understand what to expect for the end of the season and who will really be the favorite for the titles, although currently, the Constructors’ title seems to be in McLaren’s hands, while the Drivers’ title is in Verstappen’s. But in such a unique year, anything can happen. Before wrapping up the Singapore Grand Prix, we wanted to add two notes about two particular drivers. The first is Franco Colapinto, who, despite finishing outside the points at Marina Bay, is doing exceptionally well, putting pressure on a fast and experienced driver like Albon. We’ll see how the season progresses, but if he maintains this level, it’s hard to believe he won’t remain in Formula 1 next year. The second is Daniel Ricciardo, who seems to have reached the end of his career in the top motorsport series. Objectively, this doesn’t seem particularly unfair; the Australian has had his chances, but lately, he hasn’t shown the speed, and Formula 1 doesn’t care about sentimentality. Almost everyone will say that the series will miss him for his character, but let us say that what we’ve missed for so long are his braking techniques, although perhaps there’s a curious tradition in Australia regarding this, since Piastri, the rising Australian star, also seems phenomenal at managing late braking.
