Brundle’s verdict on ‘telling’ Hamilton strategy and Norris, Piastri collision

It was a full-on weekend of F1, with a Sprint race added to the street circuit schedule. Coming at the end of a demanding run of six Grands Prix in seven weeks, it was a significant challenge for everyone involved, not just the teams and drivers.

I’ve always enjoyed the Singapore Grand Prix, right from the first race, despite the relentless heat and humidity that can leave you feeling like you need a shower barely five minutes into the day. The city is buzzing, the event has a fantastic atmosphere and the F1 cars are relentlessly pounding around the circuit. With just one practice session followed by two qualifying sessions and two races, it makes for an action-packed weekend. However, what took the shine off things a little this year was the unusually poor air quality caused by crop burning in neighbouring countries.

Singapore has long held the mantle as F1’s ‘business’ Grand Prix, combining world-class motorsport with a top-tier music festival. A record combined crowd of more than 300,000 underlined its appeal, making it an event well worth adding to your bucket list if you haven’t already been.

Russell’s Sprint crash sums up his season

It was very much Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s weekend, with the Dutchman winning both the Sprint and the Grand Prix from pole position. Combined with his victory at Sepang in Malaysia a few days earlier, that made it three wins in a row.

Verstappen is still too far behind to mount another ‘Chucky’ championship comeback like last season, but he has climbed to fourth in the standings, just eight points behind Lewis Hamilton and 17 behind second-placed George Russell. However, he remains 119 points adrift of championship leader Kimi Antonelli, with 150 points still available, assuming all the remaining races go ahead amid ongoing global conflicts.

After a surprise storm delay and a couple of laps behind the Safety Car, the Sprint finally got under way. George made an impressive start to take the lead from second on the grid, but carried too much speed and throttle into the pit straight at the end of the opening lap, spinning into the concrete barriers. With major power unit penalties already looming for the Grand Prix, this was his best opportunity to make an impact. The images of him sliding across the white line and wet kerbs felt like a fitting summary of his season so far.

This left Max out in front, with Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari keeping him honest, while Charles Leclerc began to drop back in the second Ferrari as he struggled more than most with his worn intermediate tyres.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris kept a close watch in their McLarens, which had shown strong pace throughout the weekend. Both were closing in on Leclerc, with Antonelli’s Mercedes also being drawn into the battle. However, with the track still damp and the kerbs slippery, there was little incentive to take unnecessary risks with the main qualifying session and Grand Prix still to come. The priority was to bring the cars home safely and collect whatever Sprint points were on offer, before attention turned to the bigger prizes ahead.

Norris’ overtake attempt on Piastri a lunge too far

Lando thought otherwise, he’d looked a little faster than Oscar throughout although not enough to easily overtake, but heading into Turn 5 on the last lap, which he’d likely been measuring up for a few laps, he sliced down Oscar’s right-hand side to try to claim the corner and position, and they touched, heading into a synchronized pirouette with Piastri’s car reasonably hard into wall.

McLaren are in a battle now with Red Bull for third in the championship when not so long ago they were catching Ferrari in a battle for second. These positions mean huge amounts prize money for 2027, along with the kudos and season long pitlane position, and likely partner/sponsor bonuses. Money and resource spent on 2026 parts can also impact on the 2027 car now.

The team didn’t care which driver was in front, they just wanted them home undamaged in fourth and fifth. The only consolation was Lando recovered for a point in eighth.

Drivers are hard wired to simply race, and think of their own goals, that’s why they do what they do, but whilst there was a gap against his team-mate, who could perhaps have given more space assuming he even saw it coming, it was a risky move and a lunge too far from Lando. We understand McLaren team bosses were extremely unhappy with that one.

Through all the chaos Antonelli steered nicely around everything to claim a fortunate third from seventh on the Sprint grid yet again extending his championship lead. His patience continues to pay off.

Verstappen had all bases covered

Having never taken pole position in Singapore before, Max Verstappen followed up his Sprint success by securing pole for the main race. The data suggested that either Ferrari could have claimed pole had they extracted the full potential from their laps. Regardless, Charles Leclerc came close to beating Verstappen to the first corner, but the Red Bull driver had the advantage of a fresh set of soft tyres and used them to squeeze Leclerc into submission.

The field settled into race order relatively quickly. Starting from the back, George Russell could only climb to 17th in the opening stages, such was the intensity and competitiveness of the midfield. Isack Hadjar, starting from the pitlane in the similarly displaced Red Bull, faced an even tougher challenge.

This is a good opportunity to give Liam Lawson a deserved shout-out. Driving for Racing Bulls, he finished seventh in the challenging conditions at Sepang the previous week, followed that up with fifth in the Singapore Sprint and then secured another seventh-place finish in Sunday’s Grand Prix. As the highest-placed driver outside the top four teams, Lawson put together an excellent run across a demanding series of races.

Out front, Verstappen had the Grand Prix firmly under control. Although Leclerc kept him honest in the opening stages, the Dutchman was eventually able to build a comfortable gap, giving Red Bull greater flexibility with its strategy and the freedom to react calmly to the tactics of its rivals or the potential intervention of a Safety Car.

Impossible to run a modern F1 car and team from behind the wheel

Hamilton started on a fresh set of medium tyres but began to struggle as the race progressed. Appearing to be on a clear two-stop strategy, he pitted as early as lap 18 for soft tyres. Bizarrely, he would not stop again, despite the opportunity to make a relatively cheap pit stop under a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) when Lance Stroll’s stricken Aston Martin had to be cleared from the circuit. Hamilton then endured a relentless slide down the order, eventually losing fifth place to Oscar Piastri’s McLaren in the closing stages, despite the Australian having made an unscheduled stop for a slow puncture.

After the race, it emerged that switching to a one-stop strategy, which required him to complete 44 laps on the same tyres, had been Hamilton’s own decision. He apologised to the team for the call. It is difficult to run a modern F1 car and manage the team’s strategy from behind the wheel, and the incident was telling. Ferrari had seemingly expected Hamilton to pit under the VSC.

Lando Norris had been pressuring the struggling Hamilton before making a late move down the inside into Turn 1. Both drivers ran wide, Hamilton more so, and as they scrambled back onto the circuit with dirty tyres, championship leader Kimi Antonelli seized his opportunity to sweep past them both. The move secured him third place, ahead of his two closest title rivals, and extended his championship lead once again. It was an impressive display of maturity, particularly given that Mercedes no longer appears to have the fastest car on the grid.

Norris and Piastri secured a solid fourth and fifth for McLaren, while a tenacious drive from Nico Hulkenberg in his Audi limited George Russell to just two points in ninth.

Isack Hadjar claimed the final point in 10th after starting from the pitlane in his Red Bull, capping an impressive recovery drive.

It was hardly a classic Grand Prix, in Singapore or anywhere else, but there was no shortage of stories and drama amid the stifling humidity. Next stop: Austin, Texas.

MB