Ten attempts. It took Max Verstappen ten attempts to win in Singapore, a circuit with walls so close you could pass a sandwich to the marshals. Now that he has, it was his first Marina Bay win, on his 250th Grand Prix start and the 73rd of his career. A man who has won everywhere else finally got round to the one that wouldn’t have him. Marina Bay must feel like the last tourist to be told it’s not special.
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Saturday: Rain, Rage and Papaya Panel Damage
The weekend started with a Sprint, and the weather didn’t want to be left out. A downpour delayed the start by about half an hour and left the entire field on intermediate tyres. George Russell took full advantage at the start. He sailed past polesitter Verstappen in the slippery conditions, then crashed at the first-lap final corner. That’s one lap of leading, followed by an early shower for the Mercedes man.
Verstappen took the lead back and won, with Lewis Hamilton second and Charles Leclerc third. That should have been the headline. Instead, McLaren made it about themselves, as they do. On the final lap, Lando Norris dived down the inside of teammate Oscar Piastri, and the two spun after colliding at Turn 5. Piastri retired, and Norris limped home eighth. The stewards called it a racing incident. Norris, fresh from insisting he had “the right” to do it, later changed his tune. “I let down the team,” he said, adding that he owed everyone an apology. Credit where it’s due: owning up is rarer in this paddock than a dry Marina Bay evening.
That afternoon Verstappen took pole, his first at this venue. If you’re keeping score, that’s Singapore’s two toughest hurdles cleared in one Saturday.
Sunday: A Grid Built by Penalty Notices
The starting order looked like it had been drawn up by a committee of component-change forms. Russell dropped to P19 with an engine penalty. Hadjar started from the pit lane after extra power unit elements. Alonso and Stroll joined him there, one with a new power unit component and the other with a car modified under Parc Fermé. Aston Martin’s weekend was about as spirited as a Monday morning stock count.
Then the lights went out. Leclerc got a good start, but Verstappen cut across to hold the lead into Turn 1, and that was largely that. The remaining 61 laps were a Dutch masterclass in doing the same thing repeatedly, faster than everyone else. He pitted from softs to mediums, suffered radio trouble that forced the team to use the pit board, and still crossed the line 7.3 seconds clear of Leclerc. A radio failure at Red Bull is normally the start of a very long afternoon. Here it was a footnote.
The Ferrari Podium That Got Away
Here we come to the comedy section, courtesy of Maranello. Ferrari had a dream setup: Hamilton and Leclerc on different strategies, running second and third, with a real chance to bother Red Bull.
Then the Virtual Safety Car arrived. Ferrari called both cars in for a stop, but Hamilton rejected the double stack and stayed out on ageing tyres. Predictably, Antonelli and both McLarens swept past him in the closing laps, and he finished sixth. Team principal Fred Vasseur called it “a mistake” and said P2 and P3 were there for the taking. Hamilton apologised to the team over the radio, and by Vasseur’s own account he didn’t take the stop when asked. There’s some confusion over whether he declined or missed the pit entry. Either way, the pit entry is quite a large, well-signposted thing.
It’s an expensive lesson, because it cost him what would have been his seventh podium of the season. A seven-time World Champion deserves better than being lapped by a pit entry.
Everyone Else’s Adventures
Kimi Antonelli finished third and extended his championship lead, despite a Mercedes that seemed determined to fall apart around him. He reported fluid around his feet (the team blamed “heat soak”), complained of brake trouble, and collected a black-and-white flag for track limits. A podium in a car that’s leaking onto your socks is impressive. It’s also a good argument for a waterproof boot.
Piastri needed a second stop for a slow puncture, then recovered to take fifth, passing Hamilton with a penultimate-lap move. Norris finished fourth, and the McLarens returned to behaving like team-mates for roughly 24 hours.
Audi had a tough afternoon. Gabriel Bortoleto’s car had a gearbox problem and then caught fire, briefly closing the pit entry. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg salvaged eighth. Colapinto (driveline) and Stroll (clutch) were the other retirements.
Russell recovered from P19 to ninth, which Mercedes will happily describe as a “recovery drive” and which is more honestly a lesson in not taking engine penalties. Hadjar started from the pit lane and finished tenth, grabbing the last point and doing it with the quiet dignity of a man who knows he’s out-scored Aston Martin’s entire weekend. Cadillac finished Pérez 17th and Bottas 19th. They’re still on the grid, which is more than you can say for several of the cars that started this race.
The Verdict
Verstappen’s win was dominant and, frankly, a little dull, which is exactly how a good win should look. The real entertainment came from the teams not winning. Ferrari handed away a double podium, McLaren raced each other harder than anyone else, and Mercedes’ championship leader got his feet wet.
The racing is relentless, and the calendar has no mercy: the series resumes at the United States Grand Prix on October 23-25. Expect more strategy debates, more radio apologies, and at least one team principal saying “we need to analyse this.”
