Max Verstappen claimed another victory and put Mercedes firmly in his sights for 2027 on the same day that Kimi Antonelli celebrated his first championship match point. Red Bull may not stand out for outright aerodynamic load, but it is increasingly displaying the qualities that matter most under Formula 1’s current regulations. Ferrari, meanwhile, celebrated another podium with Charles Leclerc in a race that challenged some long-held assumptions about the SF-26’s tyre management.
Why Red Bull has become Mercedes’ emerging 2027 threat
It would be easy to argue that individual moments decided Max Verstappen’s Singapore victory. The 54-thousandth advantage that secured pole position proved crucial, as did his late braking around the outside at the start to defend against Charles Leclerc, a move the Dutch driver has successfully used on other occasions.
However, the race itself also demonstrated Red Bull’s superiority, particularly during the opening stint. Max Verstappen at times held a pace advantage of around half a second per lap over Ferrari, and that gap could not be explained solely by clean air or his new Soft tyres compared with the used set fitted to Charles Leclerc.
Max Verstappen also protected himself against the undercut by delaying his pit stop, avoiding the late-race collapse on the Medium tyre that Lewis Hamilton subsequently experienced. The race therefore underlined more than simply strong execution from the driver: it showed that Red Bull now possesses a package capable of performing strongly in the areas that matter most.
The broader competitive picture can be followed through the Ferrari vs F1 Rivals statistics, which compare Ferrari with Red Bull, Mercedes and the other constructors across the 2026 season.
On the same weekend that Kimi Antonelli secured his first opportunity to mathematically seal the championship, Max Verstappen took a victory that strengthens his case as Mercedes’ main potential challenger for next season. Ferrari remains the closest team to Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, but recent track performance suggests that Red Bull has become an important reference point through development.
In the past, winning at Singapore was often associated with a car producing abundant aerodynamic load. The available data, however, suggests that this is not the defining strength of the RB22.
Red Bull’s strength goes beyond maximum downforce
The RB22 stands out for aerodynamic efficiency, combining low drag with a powerful engine to create a significant straight-line advantage. At the same time, it is no longer the aggressively front-end-focused Red Bull that Max Verstappen traditionally preferred and that often created difficulties for his team-mates.
Instead, the car now appears more stable and effective when putting its power down through slow corners. That combination of efficiency and traction appears to be the right concept for the current regulations, although the challenge will be continuing to develop it without reaching the same performance plateau that has affected other teams.
Ferrari’s tyre-management reputation takes a hit
Ferrari experienced another weekend as the second-strongest force, but once again failed to fully exploit the available potential with both cars. The pit wall chose to split its strategies at the start, fitting Charles Leclerc with the Soft tyre in an attempt to surprise Max Verstappen off the line, despite not having a fresh set available.
Once Red Bull successfully defended the lead, Ferrari attempted to stay within range but was never able to match the pace at the front. The broader behaviour of the SF-26’s tyres at Marina Bay had already emerged as an important theme of the weekend, with rear tyre behaviour identified as a key Ferrari challenge in Singapore.
Ferrari tried something different with Lewis Hamilton. With little chance of taking the lead at the start, the British driver began on the Medium compound, which offered less grip and was more prone to sliding and overheating. He was therefore forced to stop first.
His situation became more difficult when Ferrari elected not to pit him during the second Virtual Safety Car period, despite his Soft tyres already having completed 20 laps with another 23 still remaining.
The complete compound choices, stint lengths and race structure can be explored through the F1 Tyre & Stint Analysis.
Why calling the SF-26 a strong tyre-management car is too simplistic
Overall, Singapore represented a defeat for Ferrari both in qualifying and on race pace, while also undermining the idea that the SF-26 is inherently strong at managing its tyres. That description is, in any case, overly general.
Formula 1 tyres behave very differently depending on the asphalt and the layout of the circuit. Ferrari has been particularly effective on more abrasive surfaces and through fast corners, where the tyres are subjected to substantial lateral energy, especially at the front axle.
At Singapore, as previously seen in Baku, the situation was different. Ferrari struggled when performance depended more heavily on longitudinal loads during traction phases. That characteristic appears to be one of the areas where the SF-26 remains vulnerable.
The hope at Maranello is that the upgrades still to come can improve this weakness, which is particularly important under the current technical regulations. Red Bull’s recent performance provides a clear example of how valuable strong low-speed traction can be. Further coverage of the car’s development is available in the Ferrari technical analysis section.
Mercedes still has performance to unlock
At Mercedes, the countdown towards mathematically securing the championship is well under way. Kimi Antonelli maximised the result in Singapore, claiming a podium through a race that was both opportunistic and highly consistent.
Once clear of Lewis Hamilton during the first stint, Kimi Antonelli showed stronger pace than Ferrari on the Soft tyres. Those tyres may also have been managed more effectively while the Mercedes ran behind the slower SF-26 driven by the British driver.
On the Medium compound, however, Kimi Antonelli lost the direct comparison with Charles Leclerc. When he returned to the Soft tyres late in the race, the Italian driver was again able to lap faster than the Monegasque after managing the compound more carefully at the beginning of the stint.
Third place ultimately rewarded the entire Mercedes team for its strong reaction in extracting performance from the updated car driven by Kimi Antonelli. After the difficulties encountered in Sprint Qualifying, the team made the right setup corrections and brought the W17 back into a more competitive operating window.
Kimi Antonelli even described the new package as “interesting”, although its balance and responses differed considerably depending on driving style. Downforce has increased, but the operating window has become narrower, making the W17’s full potential more difficult to unlock.
Austin will therefore provide another useful test of Mercedes’ development direction, including whether the new front wing returns after being set aside following only one practice session. The championship titles are no longer seriously in question, but the team’s development methodology is beginning to attract greater scrutiny, particularly because the same processes are shaping the 2027 project.
McLaren now has to look behind
After Madrid, McLaren had been looking ahead towards Ferrari’s second place in the Constructors’ Championship. The situation has now changed, with the team instead having to defend third position from a rapidly improving Red Bull.
Baku and Singapore were not circuits particularly suited to highlighting the strengths of the MCL40, although there is concern at Woking that something may have gone wrong and that recent upgrades could have affected either the car’s balance or its operating window.
Racing Bulls, meanwhile, had reason to celebrate as Liam Lawson returned to the cockpit and helped the team extend its advantage over Alpine. Further back, the fight for seventh place between Haas and Audi is also intensifying.
The next race in Austin will be one of the most complete tests on the Formula 1 calendar and should reveal much more about the relative strengths of each car. Most importantly, it will offer another indication of whether Max Verstappen and Red Bull have genuinely found the development path required to become Mercedes’ principal challenger in 2027.
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