The F1 Blog #1.2
THE F1 BLOG
Seventeen races down, three sprints later and only seven races remain from this Formula 1 season, as we arrive on the shores of Marina Bay for Round 18 of the Formula 1 2025 season as the show now arrives in Singapore. With an unforgiving street circuit promosing drama in every corner, strategy and precision will play a huge role under the Singaporean lights. It's a race where McLaren could pick up the pieces from Azerbaijan and put their name on the Constructor's Championship, with a podium finish enough to make the Championship return to it's rightful owners in Woking. Lando Norris closed the gap in on Oscar Piastri in the Driver's Championship to 25 points, where a win could draw him level with his teammate if the Australian failed to score any points. However, following impressive wins in Monza and Baku, we can confirm that Max Verstappen's quest for title number 5 is far from over. From the mind that brought you the Champions Blog, this is the F1 Blog.
ROUND 18: Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, Singapore
Circuit Length: 4,927 km
First Grand Prix: 2008
Number of Laps: 62
Number of Turns: 19
Fastest Lap Time: 1:34.486 (Daniel Ricciardo, 2024)
Race Distance: 306.28 km
Last Race (2024):
Pole Position: Lando Norris (United Kingdom, Mclaren): 1:29.525
Fastest Lap: Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, RB) 1:34.486
Podium:
1. Lando Norris (United Kingdom, McLaren)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull, Netherlands)
3. Oscar Piastri (Australia, McLaren)
Day 1: Friday 3rd October
The first practice session of this season's Singapore Grand Prix took place on a humid and cloudy Friday evening in Marina Bay, beginning at 17:30 local time. Under the cloudy skies and the damp patches from earlier showers on the circuit, in a surprising turn of events, Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin topped the timehseets, setting the benchmark with an impressive 1:31.116, proving once again why age is just a number. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari took P2, just 0.150 seconds behind, while reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, had to settle with P3, setting a time just 0.276 seconds off Alonso's pace.
In other news, drama unfolded earlier on when the Williams of Alex Albon suffered a rear break problem after only two laps, ending his practice session prematurely, while Pierre Gasly of the Alpine ran deep in Turn 14 and Lewis Hamilton brushed on the wall, but still managed to recover P4. Oscar Piastri rounded off the top 5 after edging teammate, Lando Norris late on, while Isack Hadjar impressed, rounding off an impressive P7, just ahead of Carlos Sainz. Further back, Yuki Tsunoda slotted into P9 for Red Bull, while the Haas of Esteban Ocon rounded off the top ten. Mercedes had a rather quiter start with George Russell finishing P11 while Kimi Antonelli finished P14, as teams looked forward to FP2, taking place just 2 and a half hours later under the lights of Singapore.
Picture Above: Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin driving around the curves during his FP1 win
A while later, following the second practice session of the Grand Prix, it was Oscar Piastri who set the pace following his impressive lap time of 1:30.714, putting the McLaren ahead in what was a red-flagged ridden practice, after the red flag was brought out twice during the hour session. The first of the red flags came from George Russell of Mercedes when the Brit hit the barriers on Turn 16, resulting in his front wing coming out and his withdrawal from the session. A little while later, Liam Lawson brought out the second red flag, following his crash on Turn 17.
There was also drama in the pit lane when Charles Leclerc made contact with Lando Norris in an unsafe release incident that left Norris requiring a new front wing. Both rejoined the session, but the FIA will conduct investigation on the situation afterwards. Behind Piastri, rookie Isack Hadjar impressed with a P2 finish, finishing 0.132 seconds slower then Piastri, with Max Verstappen picking up his second P3 of the evening. Fernando Alonso grabbed P4, Norris rounded off the top five, while Alonso's teammate, Lance Stroll, collected a P6 place, ahead of Esteban Ocon who finished ahead of Sainz, Leclerc and Hamilton, who wrapped up the top 10. It was another tough session for Mercedes as Russell endured his crash while Antonelli could only attain P18.
With PF2 giving use the first true picture on the race and qualifying conditions, all eyes turned to Saturday's FP3 and qualifying, determining who would start in the front of the grid on Sunday.
Picture Above: McLaren's Oscar Piastri speeding down a main straight, en route to his FP2 victory
Day 2: Saturday 4th October
Before the cars even hit the circuit, there was drama within the teams as Ferrari was fined €10,000 as a result of Leclerc's collision on Norris in the pit lane the previous day. In terms of the FP3 session, it was the reigning world champion, Max Verstappen who topped the final practice session in Singapore, following an impressive benchmark time of 1:30.148, with 9 hundreths of a second seperating him and Lando Norris in P5. Oscar Piatri finished P2 with just 0.017 seconds seperating him and Verstappen while the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finishing P3 and P4, respectively.
The session, held in hotter conditions than Friday, saw another red flag early on in the session, when Liam Lawson hit the wall on Turn 8, resulting in his second crash of the weekend. Late interruptions came off track from Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, while Lewis Hamilton was also under investigation by the stewards for the red flag infringement.
In what was a mized hour, Fernando Alonso was forced to limp his Aston Martin back to the pits, while Charles Leclerc, even after initially leading, plummeted down to P10 in the final flurry of soft-tyre runs. Hamiltion ended P8, behind Sainz of Williams and Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls, while Nico Hülkenberg wrapped up the top 10 for Kick Sauber. Down the order, Albon took P11, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman while Fernando Alonso could only salvage P15. Franco Colapinto, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson, the latter after his crash, filled up the final spots.
With the field seperated by fine margins, the stage was set for a thrilling qualifying session under the Singapore lights, which was set to take place at 21:00 local time
Picture Above: Max Verstappen of Red Bull during his FP3 win
Qualifying began a while later with track temperatures high as chaos sprung into action early on, as drivers scrambled for grip in a rapidly evolving track. Pierre Gasly's qualifying session ended prematurely when his Alpine car came to a halt at Turn 5, bringing out the yellow flags and ruining lap times for several big names. Both Red Bulls stayed safely through softs, with the likes of Fernando Alonso and Ollie Bearman narrowly escaping elimination. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in Q1, setting a benchmark of 1:29.765 seconds, while Gasly, Ocon, Colapinto, Stroll and Bortoleto were eliminated by narrow margins.
Eliminated in Q1: P. Gasly (Alpine), E. Ocon (Haas), F. Colapinto (Alpine), L. Stroll (Aston Martin), G. Bortoleto (Kick Sauber)
Q2 saw the field tighten up a bit, with just 0.4 seconds covering up the top 10. George Russell looked strong immediately, setting the benchmark time of within his first run, while the McLaren duo between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris traded purple sections with Max Verstappen. It wasn't a good qualifying for James Vowles's men as Carlos Sainz struggled with understeer, causing him to narrowly miss the cut alongside his teammate, Alex Albon and Nico Hüllkenberg. Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson also failed to make the cut while advancing to Q3, where the Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari duos, while Verstappen, Hadjar, Bearman and Alonso qualified.
Eliminated in Q1: Y. Tsunoda (Red Bull), L. Lawson (Racing Bulls), C. Sainz (Williams), A. Albon (Williams), N. Hüllkenberg (Kick Sauber)
Then came Q3, and that's when the real fireworks came. George Russell continued his impressive form in Singapore and witin his first lap, he set an impressive time of 1:29.165 seconds, before setting an new benchmark in the closing seconds of the session, finishing with an equally impressive time of 1:29.158 seconds, piping Max Verstappen by 0.182 seconds while sealing his first pole position since Canada this season. Oscar Piastri would start the race in P3, following finishing 0.366 seconds behind Russell while his teammate, Lando Norris could only secure P5. Antonelli secured P4 while the Ferrari duo finished P6 and P7, with Hadjar, Bearman and Alonso wrapping up the top 10, setting the grid for the race on Sunday.
Top 10 - Qualifying Results:
1. George Russell - Mercedes, UK - 1:29.158
2. Max Verstappen - Red Bull, Netherlands - +0.182 s
3. Oscar Piastri - McLaren, Australia - +0.366 s
4. Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes, Italy - +0.379 s
5. Lando Norris - McLaren, UK - +0.428 s
6. Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari, UK - +0.530 s
7. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari, Monaco - +0.626 s
8. Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls, France - +0.688 s
9. Oliver Bearman - Haas, UK - +0.710 s
10. Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin, Spain - +0.797 s
Picture Above: George Russell celebrating on top of his Mercedes car after grabbing pole position ahead of the race
Day 3: Sunday 5th October
After an action-packed qualifying on Saturday we were ready to go racing once again in Singapore, with George Russell the pole sitter with Max Verstappen completing the front row. Pierre Gasly had to start from the pit lane depsite qualifying 18th, due to his Alpine being modified under parc fermé conditions. Meanwhile, the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were also disqualified due to DRS infringement, with Albon having to start the race in the pit lane due to his car being modified under parc fermé conditions, much like Gasly's car.
At the start, Russell launched himself cleanly as chaos unfolded behind him. Within the first few turns, Lando Norris clipped the front wing of Max Verstappen's Red Bull, which caused the Briton to make contact with Oscar Piastri. Norris moved up to P3 by the end of the first lap, leaving Piastri venting frustrations over team radio. By the time we reached lap 10, Geroge Russell already built a steady four second lead of the reigning world champion, who was complaining of his failing gearbox issues. A mixture of tire strategies throughout the midway stages of the race took place with Verstappen and Leclerc pitted early for the more durable hard tires, while McLaren once again suffered issues with delayed stops. Oscar Piastri had a relatively slow stop which saw his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris overtake him and obtain the prized podium place, while Kimi Antonelli continued his strong run, maintaining P5.
In the end, it was George Russell, who provided a flawless drive under the lights of Singapore, taking a dominant victory in the Singapore Grand Prix, grabbing his second victory of the season and his fiifth career win. Meanwhile, a little back, despite constant pressure from Norris, Verstappen held firm for P2, grabbing a good amount of point to reduce the gap in the Driver's Championship, but he still finished 5.4 seconds behind Russell in the Mercedes. Norris's P3 and Piastri's P4 where all McLaren needed to reclaim the Constructor's Championship as in 2025, the men from Woking were world champions for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, further back, Antonelli sealed P5, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished P6 and P7 respectively, with the latter setting the fastest lap, a new Singapore Grand Prix lap record. However, the 7-time world champion was hit with a five second time penalty for exceeding track limits, promoting Fernando Alonso of the Aston Martin to P7, while Hamilton dropped to P8. Ollie Bearman scored valuable points for Haas by finishing P9, while Carlos Sainz completed the top 10, despite Williams' qualifying disqualification. All 20 cars managed to finish the race, a rarity in Singapore.
Top 10 - Race Results:
1. George Russell - Mercedes, UK - 1:40:22.367
2. Max Verstappen - Red Bull, Netherlands +5.430s
3. Lando Norris - McLaren, UK +6.066s
3. Oscar Piastri - McLaren, Australia +8.146s
5. Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes, Italy +33.681s
6. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari, Monaco +48.213 s
7. Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin, Spain +51.127s (after penalty)
8. Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari, UK +51.127s (after penalty)
9. Oliver Bearman - Haas, UK +54.890 s
10. Carlos Sainz - Williams, Spain +56.204 s
Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari, UK - 1.33.808 s (lap record)
As the checkered flag flew down on the dazzling lights of Marina Bay, the Singapore Grand Prix proved once again why it can sometimes be the most tight and unpredictable races of the calender year. After the frustration in Baku when Lando Norris couldn't help McLaren seal the Constructor's Championship, the boy from Bristol is McLaren's hero in Singapore, as his podium finish was all they needed to bring the Championship back to Woking. Now, it's a race for second place in the Constructor's as Mercedes increase the gap from Ferrari increasing the gap to 27 points. Max Verstappen has never finished outside the top 2 since the summer break, proving that he's not willing to let go of his title defence just yet. As for the McLaren duo, it's all about keeping composure and maintaining their 1-2 in the standings, as Lando Norris reduces the gap to his teammate to 22 points proving why this season is far from over. The F1 Blog will return following action from Texas for the United States Grand Prix.
Driver's Championship Standings:
1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren, Australia) - 336 points
2. Lando Norris (McLaren, UK) - 314 points
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull, Netherlands) - 273 points
4. George Russell (Mercedes, UK) - 237 points
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, Monaco) - 173 points
Constructor's Championship Standings:
1. McLaren-Mercedes (UK) - 650 points
2. Mercedes (Germany) - 325 points
3. Ferrari (Italy) - 298 points
3. Red Bull Racing (Austria) - 290 points
4. Williams-Mercedes (UK) - 102 points
Comments
Post a Comment