Formula One Preview: Singapore Grand Prix
- Peter Johnson
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
Written by Peter Johnson, Edited by Meghana Sree
Max Verstappen clawed his way back into championship contention after a chaotic weekend in Baku, but can he continue his charge at his worst track on the calendar?
Circuit Guide
Since its debut in 2008, the Singapore Grand Prix has become a staple of the Formula One calendar, barring Covid-induced absences in 2020 and 2021. The circuit has also witnessed a couple of tweaks along the way.
In 2013, the infamous Singapore Sling chicane was removed, making way for a faster, more sweeping left-hander, which has been responsible for far fewer crashes since its introduction. Just don’t ask George Russell about the final lap in 2023…
In 2023, due to work on the sea front, the Turn 16-19 right-left-left-right complex was removed, and was replaced with a longer straight which has enabled closer racing in recent years.
The circuit as a whole is illuminated by 1600 LED floodlights, which pave the way for the drivers to cut through the Singapore night.
Drivers often choose to wear special, often glittery, helmets at Marina Bay, which add an extra splash of colour to proceedings.
Weekend Format
The recently-announced Sprint calendar for 2026 revealed that Singapore will host one of six of the alternative-format race weekends next year, but for the time being it is business as usual.
Session times (BST)
Practice 1 Fri 10:30-11:30
Practice 2 Fri 14:00-15:00
Practice 3 Sat 10:30-11:30
Qualifying Sat 14:00-15:00
Race Sun 13:00
Weather Forecast
It is set to be a soaking wet weekend in Singapore, with thundery showers likely to disrupt Practice 1 and Practice 2 on Friday.
Despite a wet forecast for Saturday morning and lunchtime, the current projection for the evening points to a dry qualifying session.
A dry afternoon is predicted for Sunday, but showers forecast for later in the evening could really spice up the Grand Prix.
Major Talking Points
Verstappen’s fightback: Max Verstappen cut his arrears in the Drivers’ Championship from 94 points to 69 in Azerbaijan, but still needs to outscore Oscar Piastri by around 10 points per race weekend for the rest of the season. Singapore has not historically been kind to Verstappen and is the only track on the current calendar where he has never won. In fact, he has only ever led three laps around Marina Bay.
Piastri under pressure: For a man who had made just two notable errors all season (in Australia and Great Britain), it was astonishing to see Piastri make three huge mistakes in the space of just four corners across Saturday and Sunday in Baku. While Lando Norris was unable to make any substantial inroads, Piastri has for the first time shown that he is susceptible to pressure. Even if Norris is not the man to take advantage, a certain Dutchman might be.
Constructors’ Championship on the line: McLaren passed up the opportunity to defend their constructors’ title in Baku, but the team in papaya needs just 13 points to claim the championship in Singapore. The battle for second, meanwhile, has intensified, with just 18 points covering Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
McLaren’s “papaya rules” conundrum: With a resurgent Verstappen looming into view, it no longer looks quite so certain that it is a straight fight between the McLaren drivers for this year’s world title. How will the team hierarchy’s commitment to equality between Piastri and Norris play out now that there’s a third, non-McLaren, party in play?
Hamilton’s heartbreaking week: An already difficult year on the track for Lewis Hamilton was compounded in the cruellest fashion over the weekend, as the seven-time World Champion said goodbye to his beloved bulldog Roscoe last Sunday. Hamilton described his long-time companion as his “best friend” and due to the public-facing nature of his profession will have to deal with his grief in front of the world. The Briton won the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix following Niki Lauda’s death and the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix in the wake of actor Chadwick Boseman’s passing. A victory for Roscoe would be a heart-wrenching spectacle.
Past Singapore Grands Prix
Sebastian Vettel is the most successful driver in Singapore Grand Prix history, with five victories. Hamilton (4x), Fernando Alonso (2x), Carlos Sainz and Norris (once each) have also won at Marina Bay.
There is arguably no more memorable Singapore Grand Prix than the inaugural running of the event in 2008. Nelson Piquet Jr, driving for Renault, deliberately crashed at Turn 17 to trigger a Safety Car. The timing of the Safety Car’s deployment played perfectly into the hands of teammate Alonso, who went on to win the race.
Flavio Briatore, Renault’s Team Principal, was banned from F1 for life, a sentence since overturned. He has now returned to his position at the Enstone-based team under its current guise of Alpine.
Meanwhile, a decisive moment in that year’s title race occurred, with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari exiting a pit stop with a fuel hose still attached. Massa went on to lose the World Championship to Hamilton by one point, and has since sought legal action to “annul or amend” the result of the 2008 race in light of “Crashgate”.
The Singapore Grand Prix has been kind to Hamilton on other occasions, too. Another decisive World Championship moment came at Marina Bay in 2014, when an early retirement for Mercedes teammate and championship rival Nico Rosberg handed the Briton a huge boost.
Hamilton profited in 2017, too, when a memorable first-lap pile up involving the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikönnen and the Red Bull of Verstappen aided the Mercedes driver to victory.
The 2019 event was kinder to Vettel, who undercut new teammate Charles Leclerc to claim his 53rd and final victory in F1.
Ferrari went well in 2023, too, with Sainz’s slender victory ahead of Norris and Hamilton the only race that season not won by Red Bull.
Norris won the 2024 edition by 20 seconds ahead of Verstappen, who has only ever led three laps in Singapore. Last year’s Grand Prix is perhaps best remembered, however, for marking Daniel Ricciardo’s final race in F1.
Last Race Recap
Verstappen romped to victory last time out in Baku on a disastrous weekend for McLaren. Piastri crashed out of both qualifying and the race, while Norris could only manage a seventh-placed finish.
Piastri’s retirement marked the first time he had failed to score points since the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, and the first time he had failed to finish a race since the 2023 US Grand Prix.
Saturday’s qualifying session was punctuated by a record six red flags. Sainz qualified second for Williams, with Liam Lawson having his best ever Saturday to start third for Racing Bulls on Sunday.
Sainz would come home to claim Williams’ first podium since the curtailed 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, and the team’s first over a full race distance since the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Russell, marred by illness all week, finished second for Mercedes on a weekend which saw the Silver Arrows leap above Ferrari to second in the Constructors’ Championship.
Lawson hung on for a career-best finish of sixth, while Yuki Tsunoda scored his best finish for Red Bull with a seventh place.
Drivers to Watch
Max Verstappen: The four-time World Champion has never won at Marina Bay. However, his slim but nevertheless still-existent title hopes rest on him out-scoring Piastri by a sizable amount each weekend for the rest of the season. A first victory in Singapore would only add momentum to his late-season championship charge.
Lewis Hamilton: The second-most successful driver in Singapore Grand Prix history may fancy his chances at a venue that has also boded well for Ferrari in recent years. The Briton drove what many consider to be the greatest F1 qualifying lap of all time in 2018, while his Sunday performances have often hit a similar level of excellence.
Oscar Piastri: After exposing a massive crack in his armour last time out in Baku, will championship leader Oscar Piastri rediscover his usually ice-cool demeanour, or will the pressure of a maiden World Championship appearing on the horizon continue to take its toll?
Peter’s Prediction
I think Hamilton will go very well this weekend, given both his and Ferrari’s historic success here. This could be the weekend he finally breaks his Ferrari podium duck, or possibly goes even better. Given his devastating week away from the track, too, I think we may well see the Briton on a mission in Singapore.
I expect Verstappen to continue to make inroads into Piastri and Norris, too.
Head says a Verstappen victory, heart says Hamilton. I’ll go with my heart.
