Ferrari showed enough potential to dream of a major result in Singapore Sprint Qualifying, only for that promise to fade when the soft tyres arrived in Q3. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had completed a temporary one-two on the medium compound in Q2, but the Scuderia ultimately had to settle for third and sixth as Max Verstappen secured pole and George Russell put Mercedes on the front row.
The final classification told several different stories. Mercedes reached the front row with a car running the aerodynamic configuration used before its Malaysia upgrades, raising further questions about the development work carried out in recent months. Red Bull, meanwhile, confirmed its growing competitiveness with another strong performance from Max Verstappen, while Ferrari produced flashes of genuine speed before losing ground at the decisive moment.
Mercedes finds speed with its older aerodynamic package
George Russell will start the Singapore Sprint alongside an outstanding Max Verstappen despite using the Mercedes specification that predates the upgrades introduced in Malaysia. It is some consolation on a weekend in which the British driver will be forced to start the Grand Prix from the back of the grid, although the Sprint front row is not necessarily a reason for celebration inside Mercedes.
In its previous aerodynamic configuration, the W17 once again displayed some of its strongest characteristics. Good traction out of slow corners is particularly valuable around the tight Marina Bay layout. During free practice, George Russell had complained that the car was excessively stiff over kerbs and surface irregularities, but Mercedes appears to have reduced that problem by Sprint Qualifying.
The more significant concern comes from Kimi Antonelli, who finished almost six tenths behind his team-mate after already losing around half a second to Max Verstappen on the same tyre compound in practice. Execution may have contributed, including Mercedes’ decision not to give the Italian driver a run on soft tyres before Q3.
George Russell’s driving style is also particularly effective in the many 90-degree corners and straight-line braking zones found around Singapore, as previously demonstrated by his performances in Montreal and Baku. However, the main focus remains on the upgrade package still being used by Kimi Antonelli.
A new front wing was also brought to Marina Bay before being quickly discarded. The car’s sensors have recorded the expected increase in aerodynamic load, but its balance and overall response have cancelled out that benefit. Kimi Antonelli has lacked confidence and struggled to rotate the W17 through Singapore’s narrow corners.
The immediate competitive situation is not the greatest concern because Mercedes remains near the front and the world titles are now close. Instead, the questions surround its development methodology, especially because the same processes are being used as work continues on the 2027 project.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull master the soft tyre
Friday’s biggest headlines nevertheless belonged to Max Verstappen, who secured pole with a Red Bull that once again looked extremely solid. The Milton Keynes team managed the technical demands of Marina Bay effectively, including the difficulty of dealing with the circuit’s bumps under braking, an issue Isack Hadjar had highlighted strongly during practice.
The combination of Max Verstappen and Red Bull also handled the new soft tyre superbly despite not having used the compound earlier in the day before Q3. The team opted for only one attempt in order to benefit from maximum track evolution, yet the tyres were already prepared by Turn 1. Max Verstappen gained 148 milliseconds over George Russell in the opening sector alone.
The Red Bull driver described the RB22 as coming alive once the soft compound was fitted, having already set the fastest time in Q1. The team continues to show progress across several areas, even at a circuit where it cannot fully exploit the straight-line superiority that had helped deliver victory in Malaysia.
The RB22 remains strong under braking, agile through slow corners and effective under traction, all characteristics rewarded at Marina Bay. Red Bull also introduced another small front-wing development in Singapore, adding to the steady stream of updates that has continued since Monza.
The yellow-flag incident could have cost Max Verstappen pole position, but ultimately did not, leaving the Dutch driver targeting another pole in Saturday’s main qualifying session.
Ferrari loses its Q2 advantage when the soft tyre arrives
Ferrari had to settle for third and sixth after briefly appearing capable of producing the biggest result of the session. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton delivered a temporary one-two on medium tyres in Q2, confirming the underlying potential of the SF-26 around Marina Bay.
The step Ferrari needed on the softer compound never arrived in Q3. Some performance may have been left on the table through execution, both from the drivers and the pit wall. Charles Leclerc lost three tenths to Max Verstappen in the first sector, while Lewis Hamilton gave away as much as four tenths in the final sector.
The contrast between Ferrari’s pace across the different phases can be examined further through the F1 Qualifying Pace & Sector Comparison, particularly given how sharply the competitive picture changed once the soft compound became decisive.
Ferrari also sent both cars onto the circuit for only one final attempt, but did so well before the session clock expired. As a result, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could not benefit from the maximum track evolution available at the end of Q3, while neither driver had two attempts with which to prepare the tyres and build rhythm.
Even so, the SF-26 appears well balanced and comfortable between the barriers of Singapore. That leaves Ferrari with genuine potential for a strong result when the main qualifying session takes place on Saturday. The challenge of extracting performance from the car over a Sprint weekend had already been highlighted in Fred Vasseur’s Singapore weekend assessment.
McLaren remains fourth force but closes the gap
McLaren continued to occupy the role of Formula 1’s fourth-fastest team, although the gap to the front was significantly smaller than at recent rounds. Its Sprint Qualifying result was also less surprising than the outcome in Malaysia because the MCL40 does not particularly suit Singapore’s large number of slow corners.
The overnight period could provide an opportunity to identify set-up corrections before parc fermé reopens after the Sprint. That freedom to make changes could prove important for several teams before Saturday’s qualifying session.
Main qualifying becomes the key Singapore battle
The Sprint itself could offer relatively limited action because overtaking at Marina Bay is difficult. During free practice, every team except Cadillac used one set of hard tyres, preferring to preserve the softer compounds. That approach suggests there is relatively little concern about degradation and race pace, placing greater emphasis on outright single-lap performance.
Much will therefore be decided in Saturday qualifying, while Ferrari will hope to turn the underlying potential seen in Q2 into a cleaner final result. The broader technical development of the SF-26 can be followed through the Ferrari technical analysis section.
There will also be hope that the technical problems seen on Friday are not repeated. After the red flag in Q1, human error by race control caused Overtake Mode to be disabled before it was briefly reactivated for 27 seconds, creating unequal conditions for drivers fighting to reach Q2.
It comes at a difficult moment for the FIA following the software bug that emerged during the Sepang downpour. Those problems should at least be simpler to resolve than the development questions currently facing Mercedes, whose Singapore front row with its older car specification has cast further doubt over the effectiveness of the upgrades introduced in recent months.
