Ferrari’s Singapore Grand Prix performance highlighted both the strengths and the persistent limitations of the SF-26, as Charles Leclerc emerged as Max Verstappen’s closest challenger while Lewis Hamilton missed a potential podium following a costly strategy decision. The Maranello team showed impressive mechanical performance around Marina Bay, but rear tyre management and power-unit limitations remain significant obstacles ahead of its planned Austin upgrades.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen and Red Bull delivered another commanding performance, reinforcing the impression that their recent development progress has transformed the RB22 into a formidable package across very different circuits. With the Dutchman producing championship-winning form over the past 11 races, his resurgence is already sending a warning to Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli ahead of the 2027 Formula 1 season.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen: a championship challenge that came too late
The Singapore Grand Prix almost felt like a return to the past, when Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominated every session of virtually every race weekend. At Sepang, the Dutchman secured pole position and victory. At Marina Bay, he followed that with pole position and victory in the Sprint, before repeating the achievement in the Grand Prix itself, finishing comfortably ahead of the opposition.
Max Verstappen has scored more points than any other driver over the last five races and just six fewer than Kimi Antonelli across the previous 11 Grands Prix. That is championship-winning form, and Mercedes and its Italian driver can be grateful for Red Bull’s difficult start to the season. The Milton Keynes team has made sustained progress since Barcelona, with its latest upgrades introduced in Baku delivering another significant improvement.
After Baku and Sepang, Marina Bay provided further evidence of Red Bull’s transformation. Max Verstappen dominated once again, this time on a circuit with completely different characteristics from the previous venues. That is perhaps the most significant finding: the RB22 now appears capable of delivering exceptional performance regardless of the circuit layout.
The explanation lies partly in the car’s fundamental strengths throughout 2026: an excellent rear end, extremely low aerodynamic drag and a highly competitive power unit. Combined with aerodynamic development that has improved the balance between the front and rear axles, these characteristics have allowed Max Verstappen to do what he does best: extract everything available from both the car and its tyres.
The Dutchman’s ability to adapt his driving style to the specific demands of each circuit and tyre compound remains one of his greatest qualities. It is not always immediately apparent from the outside, but the data makes it particularly clear on race weekends. His approach to individual corners can change substantially between qualifying and the race, depending on what the tyres require at that moment.
The battle for the 2027 championship has effectively already begun, although the teams must first design and build entirely new cars. Nevertheless, Max Verstappen and Red Bull are using the closing stages of the current season to establish themselves as serious contenders for next year’s title.
Ferrari Singapore GP analysis: the SF-26 shows its strengths
Behind Max Verstappen, Ferrari can still regard the Singapore weekend as a positive one. The SF-26 was generally the second-fastest car on the circuit, although the Red Bull driver’s exceptional performance almost places him in a category of his own. Charles Leclerc delivered an impressive race, having qualified within five hundredths of a second of pole position on Saturday before coming within little more than a metre of taking the lead at the start.
Max Verstappen’s defensive manoeuvre at the start was aggressive but fair. The Dutchman guided Charles Leclerc towards the kerb at the pit-lane exit, and the Ferrari bounced as it came off the kerb. That small disturbance cost the Monegasque the metre he needed to attempt a realistic attack under braking.
The intense but ultimately fair battle between the two drivers was hardly surprising. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc are arguably the two drivers with the strongest racecraft on the current Formula 1 grid.
From a technical perspective, Ferrari emerged from a potentially difficult weekend with considerable encouragement. Marina Bay places significant demands on power-unit performance, while requiring relatively little from the front tyres compared with the substantial workload imposed on the rear axle.
Two positive characteristics of Ferrari and the SF-26 were particularly evident. The first was the car’s suspension behaviour. Ferrari finally appeared to be running a softer mechanical set-up, providing improved traction and allowing the car to negotiate the kerbs effectively.
This also reinforced the impression that the extremely low and stiff configurations seen in Madrid and Baku were primarily the result of Ferrari’s attempts to maximise aerodynamic efficiency and reduce drag, rather than an unavoidable mechanical requirement of the SF-26 itself.
The second positive was the expertise demonstrated by Ferrari’s engineers on circuits where mechanical set-up is especially important. At venues such as Monaco and Singapore, the Maranello team’s considerable technical knowledge continues to make a meaningful difference, allowing cars that are not always competitive enough across the wider championship to fight near the front.
Charles Leclerc’s second-place finish therefore offered further encouragement for Ferrari, particularly as the team prepares for another important development step. The significance of that result is explored in more detail in why Charles Leclerc’s Singapore podium gives Ferrari hope ahead of Austin.
Ferrari’s rear tyre problems remain a major SF-26 weakness
Not all of Ferrari’s problems disappeared in Singapore, however. Alongside its power-unit limitations, the weekend once again exposed a familiar weakness: managing the rear of the car, particularly the temperature of the rear tyres.
It was probably no coincidence that Charles Leclerc approached the Sprint with a set-up heavily biased towards the rear, something the Monegasque himself confirmed. That configuration subsequently caused difficulties in wet conditions, but its primary purpose was to protect the rear tyres from overheating.
For the Grand Prix, Ferrari adopted a slightly more neutral balance. Inevitably, that brought the challenge of controlling rear tyre temperatures over the length of a stint back into focus. Ferrari’s tyre management was reasonable rather than exceptional, falling short of the impressive performance the team has demonstrated in other circumstances.
The differences in tyre usage and stint performance can be explored through the F1 Tyre & Stint Analysis, which allows comparisons between drivers and compounds across individual Grands Prix.
This leads back to a recurring conclusion about Ferrari’s 2026 campaign: whenever the SF-26 appears capable of winning, one fundamental characteristic seems to be missing.
On front-limited circuits, where the SF-26 chassis can demonstrate its strongest qualities, power-unit performance and aerodynamic efficiency often become decisive. Unfortunately for Ferrari, these are two areas in which the team pays a substantial performance penalty.
On street circuits and similar venues, where outright power can be less important and aerodynamic drag is less costly, the situation changes. These tracks are generally more rear-limited, bringing Ferrari’s difficulties with rear tyre management to the surface.
That makes the Ferrari upgrades planned for Austin particularly interesting. Understanding the direction of SF-26 development will be essential when assessing which technical philosophy the team considers most promising as it looks towards 2027.
Lewis Hamilton’s impressive Singapore weekend undone by strategy
There is also considerable disappointment surrounding Lewis Hamilton, who appeared to have a straightforward opportunity to secure third place had he stopped when Ferrari called him into the pits during the Virtual Safety Car period.
Instead, the British driver remained on track. The official explanation was that Lewis Hamilton had missed the pit-lane entry, although another possible interpretation is that he was attempting to differentiate his strategy from that of Charles Leclerc, whom he would otherwise have been unable to overtake.
Whatever the reasoning, the outcome was disastrous. Lewis Hamilton’s race unravelled dramatically in the closing stages, leaving him with just sixth place despite having shown potential pole-position pace on Saturday.
To his credit, Lewis Hamilton accepted responsibility for the mistake and apologised to Ferrari. Nevertheless, the disappointment remains significant. The team missed an opportunity to secure a double podium and lost valuable points in the Constructors’ Championship.
The consequences of the decision and the British driver’s subsequent response are covered in greater detail in Lewis Hamilton’s explanation of his costly Singapore strategy gamble.
Mercedes secures a podium but still has unresolved technical problems
Kimi Antonelli also deserves recognition for securing a podium finish after overtaking Lando Norris, who endured a particularly difficult weekend in terms of incidents on track.
However, the young Italian’s result should not disguise the continuing problems with the Mercedes package. On paper, Singapore was a circuit that should have suited the Brackley team’s car particularly well, with its strong downforce, traction, rear stability and competitive power unit.
The upgrades designed to strengthen the rear of the car should also have provided an advantage. Yet Mercedes ultimately found itself only the third-fastest team on the circuit.
The main weakness appears to be concentrated at the front of the car. The front axle remains too weak and seems capable of working effectively only when the tyres provide sufficient mechanical grip to compensate for the underlying balance deficiency. That includes the Soft compound in dry conditions and the Intermediate tyres on a wet track.
The Mercedes package still possesses considerable potential in terms of overall downforce, but the team has yet to understand how to extract that performance consistently.
For Mercedes, the next round in Austin will therefore represent another important test. The varied characteristics of the Circuit of the Americas should provide a particularly revealing assessment of the car’s strengths and weaknesses.
Austin upgrades and the 2027 challenge: what comes next for Ferrari?
Formula 1 now leaves Singapore behind and heads towards one of the most impressive circuits on the calendar, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
Ferrari will arrive with new upgrades for the SF-26, hoping to address some of the limitations that prevented Charles Leclerc from challenging Max Verstappen more effectively at Marina Bay. The key question is whether the new components can improve the car’s overall performance without sacrificing the mechanical strengths that made Ferrari so competitive in Singapore.
Mercedes will be searching for answers about its own package, while Kimi Antonelli will have his first opportunity to secure the World Championship mathematically.
At the front, however, Max Verstappen will be determined to continue his remarkable run of form. With Red Bull now competitive across such different circuits, the Dutchman is already establishing himself as a formidable contender for the 2027 season.
For Ferrari, the 2026 United States Grand Prix at Austin could offer an important indication of whether the SF-26’s remaining weaknesses can be reduced before the championship enters its final stages.
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