Marco Rossi · F1 Correspondent
Between Friday practice setbacks and race-day dominance, Max Verstappen controlled Marina Bay, while the rest of the field shuffled dramatically throughout the weekend.
Max Verstappen won the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Singapore on the October 9-11 weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, taking the checkered flag in the sprint qualifying, sprint, qualifying, and main race to end his ten-year winless streak at this track with a complete sweep at his 250th Grand Prix start and claiming his 73rd career victory. Yet the weekend told a second, more turbulent story behind him: a rain-soaked sprint scrambled the field, some drivers climbed from far back into the points while others lost in a single weekend several positions they had fought hard to earn.
From Friday setback to race control
Looking only at Sunday evening's results, one might think Verstappen dominated from the opening minutes. In fact, during the sole practice session he sat 0.732 seconds behind best-time setter George Russell in sixth place, just 0.717 seconds ahead of his teammate Isack Hadjar, who followed in eighth with a 1.449-second gap. It wasn't until Friday's sprint qualifying that the picture flipped: Verstappen moved to the front and held that position through the sprint, qualifying, and race without relinquishing it once.
Carrying this form cleanly across four separate sessions on a track with tight walls and little margin for error is far from routine. Charles Leclerc proved the most consistent rival of the weekend: second in practice, third in sprint qualifying and the sprint itself, second in qualifying, and ultimately second in the race. For Ferrari, this signals that the deficit to Red Bull in Marina Bay was never vast, but consistently large enough that Leclerc couldn't genuinely threaten Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton delivered the most uneven trajectory among the top drivers. After fourth in practice and a strong second-place finish in the sprint, he fell to sixth in the race, three positions behind his starting spot: under the virtual safety car he missed his pit window, stayed out by his own decision, and lost three places in the closing laps on degrading tires. Hamilton later took full responsibility and spoke of a painful lesson. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, by contrast, showed the opposite arc across the entire weekend: from seventh in practice through the same spot in sprint qualifying and fourth in the sprint to a fourth starting position and ultimately third place in the race, the Mercedes driver built his form session by session, a progression that directly reflected in the championship table.
From the back to the points: The field beyond the podium
Most striking in the main race was the performance of two drivers who both had to start far back and fought their way into the points. George Russell, who began practice with the day's best time and sailed into the wall in the final corner during the first lap of the rain-soaked sprint after leading, had to start from the back of the grid due to a power unit penalty yet still finished ninth, just 1.291 seconds behind Nico Hülkenberg. Isack Hadjar, who remained without a valid time after car issues in qualifying and started from the pit lane with fresh power unit components, claimed the final remaining point in tenth place. Both drives rank among the weekend's most remarkable comebacks, proving that pace in Marina Bay didn't depend on starting position.
On the flip side stood Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto. He lined up 15th on the grid but had to park his car at the pit exit after just seven laps due to an apparently defective gearbox, a retirement that also triggered a brief virtual safety car period. Franco Colapinto retired from 15th on the grid as well, while Arvid Lindblad dropped from a strong tenth-place qualifying run to 15th in the race. For three young drivers, a weekend that offered flashes of hope in practice and qualifying turned into setbacks when it mattered most.
The midfield in between largely stayed where recent form suggested it would. Liam Lawson confirmed his steady line with seventh in the race, matching his sprint qualifying and sprint positions, while Hülkenberg improved from tenth on the grid to eighth and picked up Audi's only points of the weekend with a seventh-place sprint finish. Pierre Gasly, however, surrendered four spots from his seventh starting position to finish only 11th, a disappointment given Alpine's strong performance in practice and qualifying.
What the weekend means for the championship
For McLaren, it was primarily a damage-control weekend. After the collision between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the final lap of the sprint, which knocked Piastri from the race and left team principal Andrea Stella visibly disappointed afterward, both pilots returned to the points in the main race, with Norris fourth and Piastri fifth. In the constructors' standings, things got tighter for McLaren in the rear: with 339 points the team sits well behind Ferrari (444) and Mercedes (578), but only seven points ahead of Red Bull (332).
In the drivers' championship the picture has tilted further in Antonelli's favor after Singapore. With 340 points the Mercedes driver now leads clearly over Russell with 238, Hamilton with 229, Verstappen with 221, and Leclerc with 215, while Norris sits at 201 points already outside the immediate title conversation. With a 102-point advantage over Russell, Antonelli could mathematically clinch the title as soon as the next race in the USA.
For Verstappen and Red Bull, Singapore remains above all proof that a weak Friday practice session need not dictate actual weekend pace. How much this sweep is worth for his own title fight depends on whether this consistency carries through at upcoming tracks, while McLaren, Ferrari, and the rest of the midfield must regroup after a weekend full of contradictions.
