Six editions since 2018, six different winners. Singapore doesn’t do repeats unless they’re on the replay screen. This time, Russell owned the night, managing tyres, traffic and temperature with poise.

Behind him, Max Verstappen wrestled a difficult Red Bull into second, while Lando Norris bagged third for McLaren. Championship leader Oscar Piastri shadowed home in fourth, a papaya double that had significance tonight. McLaren clinched the Constructors’ Championship, back-to-back, needing only 13 points and collecting far more. Somewhere in Woking, the lights won’t be going off anytime soon.

How the race was won

Does Singapore still reward the front-row bully? On evidence, yes. Russell’s start was neat rather than nuclear, exactly what you want on a night when the track will happily punish enthusiasm. Once he cleared Turn 1, the job became part thermodynamics, part tempo. Manage the 4.927km rhythm, keep the fronts alive for rotation, and don’t get greedy with the kerbs. He played it like a metronome.

For those counting, this was the 11th win from pole in 16 renditions of the Singapore Grand Prix. Overtaking remains a contact sport with concrete, and the driver who controls the first stint usually controls the story.

McLaren’s night of numbers

Yes, the race winner wore silver, but the trophy engraver for the big one will be etching McLaren. The papaya pair finished P3 and P4, enough to slam the door on the Constructors’ with six rounds to spare. It’s their 10th title, and it feels earned the old-fashioned way.

Russell remains fourth in the Drivers’ standings on 212 points, chasing the McLaren duo  Piastri (324) and Norris (299)  with Verstappen (255) lodged between them and Mercedes’ spearhead.

Six races remain, beginning with the United States Grand Prix on 19 October in Texas.

Two years ago, Russell left here with the sort of last-lap ache that wakes you at 3am. Tonight, he left with the chequered flag and a neat line under the ledger.

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The FIA’s F1 Technical Delegate, Jo Bauer, noted: “The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked on car numbers 23 (Albon) and 55 (Sainz). Both cars exceeded the maximum limit of 85mm on both sides of the rear wing outer area.”

That runs headlong into Article 3.10.10 (g) of the Technical Regulations, which governs the Drag Reduction System: when DRS is deployed, the gap between the two rear-wing profiles must be between 9.4mm and 85mm along the span.

As per protocol, the stewards confirmed disqualification for both drivers. Their summary was blunt:

• The DRS gap exceeded 85mm on both sides when measured by FIA officials.
• Williams admitted their own pre-qualifying checks had shown the assembly within tolerance, but did not challenge the FIA’s procedure, methodology, or equipment.
• With the part non-compliant, the standard penalty for a technical infringement applies.

“Bitterly disappointing”: Williams’ response

Team Principal James Vowles cut to the chase: “During FIA scrutineering after Qualifying, the rear wings on both our cars failed DRS slot gap checks. As a result, Alex and Carlos have been disqualified from Qualifying for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix. This is bitterly disappointing for the team, and we are urgently investigating how this happened. At no point were we seeking a performance advantage, and the rear wings had passed our own checks earlier in the day, but there is only one measurement that matters, and we fully accept the FIA ruling. We have a car capable of scoring points here this weekend and will do everything we can to fight from the back of the grid tomorrow, and will immediately review our processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Why is an extra millimetre or two such a fuss? With DRS open, a wider slot gap can reduce drag more than allowed, buying a little extra top speed. The rules cap that gap at 85mm so everyone’s “push-to-pass” stays within the same aerodynamic envelope.

What it means for Sunday

Both Williams will be relegated to the back, which scrambles undercut maths and punctures a few strategy decks. Can Williams still nick points? On a track where track position is king and the Safety Car is a frequent guest star, anything can happen.

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When it mattered, Russell threaded the Marina Bay needle, fending off Max Verstappen (second, +0.182s) and McLaren’s points leader Oscar Piastri (third, +0.366s). Team-mate Kimi Antonelli slotted into P4, with Lando Norris P5. Ferrari locked out P6–P7 via Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

From bruised to bullish

FP2 brought the first red flag when Russell’s W16 nudged the Turn 16 barrier. Not exactly the confidence primer. But qualifying is its own theatre, and Russell owned the final act.

“I’m a very different driver today than I was a couple of years ago,” he said after qualifying. “Yesterday was my first crash in over a year on a street circuit, you’ve only got to have a 1 per cent lapse of concentration. My mistake two years ago was five centimetres, but the consequence was massive.”

The front-row foil and the papaya puzzle

Verstappen sounded content rather than combative: “So far, this weekend has again been a very solid one. No major trouble, we were always kind of there. Very, very promising.”

Piastri, for his part, judged it cleanly: “Ultimately, I don’t think the car had enough in it for pole, so I’m pretty happy with the job I’ve done. Was it perfect? No, but close to the limit of what the car’s been able to do.”

McLaren still holds the constructors’ ace. The papaya squad can seal back-to-back titles on 5 October with any one of several outcomes; a single podium would do it, or simply ensuring Mercedes don’t outscore them by 31 and Ferrari don’t gain 35.

Heat, hardware and headspace

This is also the first F1 weekend run under an official “heat hazard” designation, permitting cooling vests on the grid and during suspensions. Don’t fancy the vest? You’ll carry 0.5kg of ballast so there’s no weight-saving edge.

“Of course, I’m in the best place to start. There’s a good pole-side advantage here, so I’d like to think I can hold the lead into Turn 1. But obviously this guy on my left (Verstappen) is pretty good at race starts, so I will have to keep an eye,” Russell added.

Win tomorrow and he becomes the sixth different Singapore winner in six editions since 2018.

Garage headaches

Not everything was neat and papaya. Williams suffered a double disqualification from qualifying after both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz breached the rear-wing outer area height limit (85mm) on both sides in post-session checks.

With seven races to go, including Singapore, Piastri leads on 324 points, Norris sits second on 299, Verstappen third on 255, and Russell fourth with 212. With Verstappen ahead of both McLarens on the grid, Sunday could deliver a twist worthy of the skyline.

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Fernando Alonso had set the tone in FP1 with a 1:31.116. Come FP2, it was Piastri who found the sweet spot when it mattered.

At 21:00 local, Nico Hülkenberg hustled the pack out into slightly cooler night air. Alex Albon, sidelined by a rear-brake hardware gremlin in FP1, was clearly eager to put miles under him.

Red Flag #1: Russell brushes the wall

A few minutes later, George Russell discovered that Turn 16 still bites. One glance, one snap, and the W16 was nursing a broken nose. “That was weird,” came the radio understatement of the night as the red flag was waved.

Quali sims and Red Flag #2

With just over half an hour to go, the circus restarted and the softs came out for qualifying simulations. Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc stayed on mediums, while Esteban Ocon briefly rose to the top with a 1:31.480 for Haas.

A kiss of the wall on exit Turn 17 resulted in Liam Lawson and his Racing Bull rolling to a halt at the pit entry, cueing the second red flag of the day.

Pit-lane pinball: Leclerc vs Norris

As the session was announced to resume, we got the night’s eyebrow-raiser. Leclerc emerged alongside Norris in the pit lane, the Ferrari’s release leaving the McLaren squeezed into the wall.

Norris was wheeled back in for a new front wing. The stewards subsequently issued a €10,000 fine for Ferrari for unsafe release.

The final dash: Papaya to the top

When the track fell green again, everyone hustled to make up lost time. In the closing five minutes, Piastri lit the board with a 1:30.714, nudging Max Verstappen off the summit. Isack Hadjar then split them, sliding his Racing Bulls into P2, just 0.132s back, as the majority ran the soft.

Alonso banked P4 in another tidy showing for Aston Martin, with Lance Stroll close by in P5. Norris, annoyed with himself on the radio, still wedged himself between the green cars.

Behind them, Ocon took P7; Williams’ Carlos Sainz and the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton rounded out the top ten

Just outside, Yuki Tsunoda (P11) headed Ollie Bearman (P12), Albon (P13), Hülkenberg (P14) and Bortoleto (P15). Pierre Gasly was P16 for Alpine, with Lawson, Antonelli, Franco Colapinto and Russell completing the order from P17 to P20.

FP3 fires up at 17:30 local, with Qualifying at 21:00 on Saturday, a familiar Marina Bay two-step that rewards those who can thread the needle when the walls are a handshake away.

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Race director Rui Marques spelt it out in a Thursday bulletin to the teams: when the forecast Heat Index tops 31°C, the protocol kicks in. Drivers are permitted to wear cooling vests on the grid and during any race suspension.

“Having received a forecast from the official Weather Service predicting that the Heat Index will be greater than 31°C at some time during the race. Thus, a Heat Hazard is declared,” said Marques.

Singapore’s bumpy, stop-start street circuit is infamous: high humidity, thick tropical air, concrete canyons that trap heat. Drivers routinely shed up to 3kg over a full-length night race.

What’s a cooling vest, exactly?

The cooling vest is laced with coolant tubes, fed by pumps and a heat exchanger. In testing, some drivers grumbled about comfort; space is at a premium in a modern F1 cockpit, and anything that adds bulk feels uncomfortable. Still, when the mercury climbs, cold fluid buys you clarity.

Crucially, the FIA isn’t forcing anyone to wear one. But whether a team opts in or out, every car must be fitted with the requisite hardware so the vests can be used. Elect not to wear the vest? You’ll need to carry an extra 0.5kg of ballast to avoid gaining a weight advantage.

Lessons from a hot night in Qatar

The FIA pushed it forward after the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, where several drivers needed medical attention for heat-related symptoms.

George Russell gave the vest an early shakedown at this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix and, characteristically, called it as he felt it: “Of course there’s always room to improve,” the Mercedes driver said. “I wanted to give it a whirl. So far, so good.”

Does a cooling vest make a driver faster? Not directly. It keeps them sharper for longer, which at the Singapore Grand Prix is often the same thing. The heat-hazard call doesn’t blunt the spectacle, but rather modernises it.

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Two #RevUpSG pop-up festivals take the show on the road, Kampung Admiralty (6–7 September) and One Punggol (20–21 September), with a lively spread of Formula 1-themed activities. Expect race simulators, reaction challenges, a remote-control car reaction game by beIN SPORTS, and even a Singapore Grand Prix-inspired LEGO display.

There’s a preview of official Singapore GP merchandise and a healthy stack of prizes for the lucky.

Because Formula 1 is as much theatre as it is telemetry, the festivals will screen Singapore’s spotlight episode from Netflix’s Drive to Survive Season 7—Episode 7, “In the Heat of the Night”, seen through the eyes of Alex Albon, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly.

And if you’d like to hear the roar live, beIN SPORTS will host watch parties for the Italy and Azerbaijan Grands Prix.

Exclusively at Kampung Admiralty, Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents can snag an SG60 bundle (a Friday Zone 4 Walkabout ticket plus limited-edition memorabilia) at a special community price.

Only 600 bundles are available on 6 September from 3pm, capped at two per person.

The Thursday Pit Lane Experience for the Singapore Grand Prix 2025 returns on 2 October, a day before the city’s most famous night race throws the switch. Up to 4,500 Singapore residents will ballot for the chance to walk the Pit Lane, peer into team garages, and soak up the quiet intensity before the storm.

You’ll also catch F1 Academy and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia cars on display and sample the F1 Village’s entertainment and interactive stalls. The ballot opens 25 August, 12pm.

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On Friday, October 3rd, G-DRAGON makes his long-awaited return to Singapore. The K-pop superstar, known for pushing boundaries in music and fashion, hasn’t performed in Singapore in seven years.

The BIGBANG frontman, who recently released the single POWER, is set to drop his third studio album Übermensch on February 25, his first full-length solo project in over a decade.

Expect an explosive performance as he brings his genre-defining sound to the Padang Stage.  

On Sunday, October 5th, two years after concluding his record-breaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, Sir Elton John is making a surprise return. The music legend, an EGOT winner with over 300 million records sold, will close the race weekend in grand style.

Fans can look forward to timeless hits like Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer, and Your Song.

Beyond the music, the 2025 Formula 1 season is shaping up to be one of the most thrilling in years. Lewis Hamilton’s highly anticipated debut with Scuderia Ferrari is set to take centre stage, while five rookie drivers will navigate the Marina Bay Street Circuit’s notoriously unforgiving twists and turns for the first time.  

Adding to the intrigue, 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of the FIA Formula One World Championship. This also signals the final season of the current V6 hybrid turbo power unit configuration.

With less than eight months to go, tickets are selling fast. While premium hospitality packages like the Formula 1 Paddock Club, Sky Suites, and The Green Room are already sold out, limited slots remain in The Clubhouse @ Formula 1 Paddock Club and Twenty3. Additional hospitality options at the Singapore Flyer have also been introduced for 2025.  

Tickets to the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix can be purchased at www.singaporegp.sg and via authorised ticketing partners. All passes grant access to Zone 4 performances, while a Zone 1 ticket is required for access to the Wharf Stage.  

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With fans filling every inch of the revamped circuit (thanks to last year’s redevelopment of the Bay Grandstand) this year’s attendance hit a record high.

On track, Lando Norris secured his first-ever Singapore win, and his third win this season thus far. Defending champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull took the runner up position, followed by the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Oscar Piastri, who started fifth, fought his way to third, ensuring a double podium for McLaren. This, combined with a lacklustre finish for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, meant McLaren extended their lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.

Beyond the adrenaline on the track, the weekend has been a sensory overload for fans. 

Tens of thousands soaked up performances by top global acts like OneRepublic, Kylie Minogue, Disclosure (DJ), Thirty Seconds to Mars, The Corrs, Kool & The Gang, HONNE, BABYMONSTER, Lenny Kravitz and Tones & I.

And if you’re already thinking ahead to next year, the Super Early Bird (SEB) tickets for 2025, which dropped just two days ago, have already sold out. Unsurprisingly, in record time.

Missed your chance? Don’t worry. More tickets in select categories will be available under the Early Bird phase starting 1 October at www.singaporegp.sg. If the Singapore Grand Prix 2024 is anything to go by, next year’s race will be equally as exciting.

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In a race where he controlled proceedings from start to finish, Norris crossed the line a full 20 seconds ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen, tightening the title race and reducing Verstappen’s points cushion.

For those familiar with Norris’s past struggles from the front, his flawless start came as a pleasant surprise. He slotted neatly ahead of Verstappen at Turn 1, immediately setting the tone for the race. From there, it was almost as if Norris had an extra gear. In the end, it was smooth sailing for the McLaren driver.

Verstappen, with no answer to Norris’s pace, had to be content with second place. Oscar Piastri, who started fifth, fought his way to third, ensuring a double podium for McLaren.

This, combined with a lacklustre finish for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, meant McLaren extended their lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.

Piastri’s strategy was one of patience. He stayed out longer than most during the first stint, and when he finally switched to fresher tyres, he made quick work of Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc attempted a similar strategy, passing Hamilton easily in the closing laps but falling short of catching Russell, leaving Leclerc in a Silver Arrows sandwich by the end of the race.

Carlos Sainz, after a qualifying mishap, managed to salvage seventh place, while Fernando Alonso brought home valuable points for Aston Martin in eighth.

Nico Hulkenberg delivered a solid performance for Haas, finishing ninth. Perez, after being knocked out in the second qualifying phase, rounded out the top 10.

Further down the order, Franco Colapinto continued to impress with his drive to P11, just shy of the points and hot on the heels of Perez. He was followed by Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon, while Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin crossed the line in 14th.

The Kick Sauber duo of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas found themselves in 15th and 16th, with Pierre Gasly in the other Alpine and a struggling Daniel Ricciardo, who set the fastest lap after a late pit stop, finishing behind them.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Williams, as Alex Albon lost several positions at the start after a tussle with teammate Colapinto and later retired due to overheating issues. Kevin Magnussen’s Haas also didn’t make it to the chequered flag, suffering a puncture late in the race.

Lando Norris was visibly elated, celebrating with clenched fists as he brought his car into parc fermé. His win slashed Verstappen’s title lead from 59 to 52 points, while McLaren leaves Singapore with a healthy 41-point lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ battle.

Marina Bay, it seems, has reignited the title race in spectacular fashion.

Photo Credits: Formula 1 Content Pool

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While fashion has played a notable role in Formula 1 partnerships, it’s rare to see it directly influence a car’s design. But now, with this latest collaboration, VCARB and HUGO are blending the sharp aesthetics of fashion with motorsport. 

The entire garage will be decked out in a full denim theme too, creating a cohesive look from pit lane to podium. Even the drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, are sporting bespoke racing suits and HUGO ensembles throughout the weekend.

Ricciardo added, “Over the years, we’ve seen fashion brands join forces with F1 teams and drivers, but it’s mostly been about the outfits. This time, we’re taking it up a notch, bringing fashion right to the track with this full immersion. We’re raising the stakes and showing that brands can explore so much more. I think this will definitely open the eyes of other fashion houses, and we’ll see more of these fashion-inspired liveries in the future.”

For Tsunoda, the partnership strikes a personal chord. “Fashion has always been a passion of mine,” he shared, “so to see our team collaborating in such a unique way, beyond just the team kit and our daily HUGO outfits, is super cool. No one has ever done this before, and it’s a real reflection of our team’s identity and creativity.”

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