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As Brundle says, McLaren will be furious.
20/20. Norris and Piastri make contact and spin!
19/20. Antonelli closing on Norris, but running out of track, and is it worth gambling for one point?
Does Verstappen have some problems? Hamilton gaining but 3.7 back. Boost problems for the Dutchman, apparently.
17/20. This is drifting. Except Norris is closing on Piastri. But Brundle points out that the McLarens can’t afford any contact in this tight run of races.
Alex Albon is out now and under investigation for the Bortoleto incident.
A couple of points of consolation for Russell. It was only the sprint, not the main race, and the damage did not seem to be too bad. But he will be starting from the back tomorrow and is seeing right now how difficult overtaking can be, albeit on intermediates in drying conditions.
Brundle pours, er, cold water on the idea of anyone changing to slicks, because to overtake you would need to go off-line, which means you would find water. “We just want to see something, to be honest,” says Croft.
12/20. Verstappen is now 2.6 clear of Hamilton. Are we going from carnage to a procession?
Antonelli making no progress in the surviving Mercedes. 2.1 behind Norris and the only place he has gained is because of Russell’s exit.
Bortoleto and Bottas out. Seven gone, and as Croft says that’s a sprint race record.
Hamilton reports “The track is fine. It’s drying, but it’s still wet … tiny wet in some places.” Will it get dry enough to merit a change of tyres?
Hamilton has been noted for a yellow flag infringement. Details unclear.
“Silly mistake, big consequences,” Russell admits.
Hamilton is 1.1 behind Verstappen but 1.7 clear of Leclerc.
Albon goes into the back of Bortoleto and both pit.
Tyre management will now mean they need to seek out water, to keep the intermediates cool, Brundle points out.
Lap 7/20. Verstappen ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, then the two McLarens led by Piastri. Antonelli sixth.
The safety car is off. And away goes Verstappen back in the lead.
Colapinto and Perez also out.
We will back racing shortly.
“Bleep. Sorry.” “Are you all right?” “Ah … Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, sorry, sorry.” In a year of misfortunes, that was simply an error by Russell, unfortunately. White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It).
Stroll went off, trying to go past Perez.
The cars trundle through the pit lane as they clean up the Mercedes on the start-finish straight. Stroll also out. And Hadjar too! Antonelli is told that Russell touched a white line and that was his undoing.
What a disappointment for the Mercedes man. Brundle reckons the standing water on the kerbs was his undoing as he went wide.
Russell out! Safety car
Oh no. After a great start, the run to the end of the lap ends in a spin.
We are clean, what a great start by everyone, really.
Russell takes the lead before turn one! Hamilton up to third!
The sprint starts 35 minutes late.
And we are go!
We are lining up on the grid, bar Sainz.
The humidity in Singapore is high and there’s no sunshine, so the track will dry slowly.
Looks like we should have a standing start.
The on-board cameras are showing considerable spray still.
And the formation laps are under way. Standing water on turn three is the FIA’s concern.
Dave Estherby is in touch:
Hi Philip,
Really, again?
Anyone who thinks racing in the wet is too dangerous would do well to YouTube Ryu Kiyonari at Donington 2008 on a motorcycle.
You can see what Dave means …
We will have two formation laps between the safety car … is that at all related to last week’s fun and games, and worries about the software in wet conditions?
Laurent Mekies, the Red Bull team principal, talks about the trade-off between conditions at the start and how they will be when they finish.
The medical car is no longer throwing up much water at all. We could be off soon. Indeed the FIA says that we will be off at 10.30am BST!
Martin Brundle suggests northern Europeans have an advantage in the rain, because of the conditions they grow up driving in.
Karun Chandhok summons up the start of the 2017 race, the last time it was wet in Singapore. Absolute carnage, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel sandwiching Verstappen then the Finn taking out the Dutchman and Fernando Alonso at the first corner.
The medical car goes round to assess conditions. It’s throwing up spray, as you’d expect, with it quickly disappearing from sight. Martin Brundle points out that with a street circuit there are tunnels and bridges, meaning some sections will be briefly dry.
Ferrari are trying to clean things up in Leclerc’s car. Ted Kravitz reports that the storm is actually on its way north, towards Sepang.
The drivers are sitting in their cars patiently. David Croft suggests that the rain was somewhat localised, and variable track conditions will make things trickier.
But nothing can delay the portentous driver countdown, not even a down-pore …
Delayed start
And we will not be off in seven minutes. A week after the Malaysian Bahrain rain, more in Singapore.
The rain has caught a lot of teams by surprise: only now are they rushing out the canopies. Charles Leclerc will have a soggy seat, it seems.
Ollie Bearman comes out as a weather radar denier, only for reality to arrive. “It’s biblical,” says Simon Lazenby.
In the pit lane, George Russell says he has been told rain is a couple of minutes away. That could spice up the sprint. Jenson Button says it’s not. And up go the umbrellas …
The Red Bull garage is looking happier with its improvements. It’s surely too late for this season, but their car is looking good for the closing races – and for 2027. Giles Richards assessed their progress early in the week:
In the opening period of the season, the RB22 was nowhere, deficient in almost every department. It lacked pace, balance, even consistency, and for all his skill Max Verstappen seemed powerless. He described it as feeling like a passenger in the car at times …
Their progress stands as testament to a team working collectively to tremendous effect. It is an achievement that must be acknowledged alongside building their own engine for the first time and delivering a win; a feat that is recognised across the paddock as perhaps beyond expectations and which was far from guaranteed to be successful as Honda, with more experience, have demonstrated all too clearly this season.
Since he wrote that, Verstappen has followed up last weekend’s win with sprint pole.
Looking at the standings, Kimi Antonelli has nothing to worry about. He’s the championship leader by 84 points, and from his cursed teammate. But the sprint grid doesn’t look so healthy, with him in seventh. Giles Richards takes up the story:
Mercedes have further complications in Singapore. The upgrades they brought to Malaysia did not prove effective and have left the team somewhat perplexed as to why they had not delivered. They opted, with Russell’s approval, to split their options this weekend with the British driver reverting to the spec with which he had won in Baku and Antonelli running the new version in order to provide an insight into where the developments were wanting.
In qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race, Russell was clearly enjoying his pre-upgrade ride more than his teammate. He took second on the grid with Antonelli only in seventh, while Max Verstappen took an excellent pole to back up his win at Sepang. Antonelli certainly felt he was somewhat under the cosh in Singapore with a car far removed from what he is used to. “There is still a lot to understand about this package, the car is very difficult, very unpredictable,” he said. “I was coming in with high hopes but so far it has been very difficult. It’s going to be a difficult weekend, it’s going to be very tricky. I don’t see where we can find seven-tenths.”
Antonelli’s seventh place was Mercedes’ worst qualifying performance of the season, David Croft observes.
And here are the drivers’ championship standings
1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 320 pts
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 236
3 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 214
4 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 191
5 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 188
6 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 188
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 128
8 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull 96
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 65
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 41
11 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 38
12 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 27
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 20
14 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 10
15 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 7
16 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 7
17 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 7
18 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 7
19 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 5
20 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1
Yet to score:
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac
Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac
So, half an hour to go till the sprint race. Here’s the grid:
1 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 1:31.156
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 1:31.276
3 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 1:31.399
4 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 1:31.454
5 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 1:31.587
6 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 1:31.702
7 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 1:31.849
8 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 1:31.849
9 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull DNF
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine DNF
Q2 eliminations
11 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 1:33.249
12 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 1:33.420
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 1:33.423
14 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 1:33.466
15 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 1:33.734
16 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 1:34.368
Q1 eliminations
17 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 1:35.136
18 Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin 1:36.130
19 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 1:36.130
20 Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac 1:36.760
21 Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac 1:36.868
22 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 1:37.376
The unhappy Sainz will start from the pit lane after some work done on his car in parc fermé.
Preamble
“F1 looks amateurish and incompetent after farcical scenes in Sepang” was the headline on Giles Richards’ Bahrain-in-Malaysia verdict, after the rain and the rules combined to leave the world’s fastest drivers calling the Kuala Lumpur AA for help. Surely, things could only get better for the FIA.
And then came sprint qualifying in Singapore, and human error:
After the first sprint qualifying session was red-flagged when Cadillac’s Sergio Perez crashed into a barrier, race control staff belatedly reactivated “overtake mode” for 27 seconds before switching it off for the rest of the session.
Overtake mode gives drivers extra power and toggling it on helped drivers who were setting a lap time at the end of the session. Reuters
It didn’t affect the championship leaders but Carlos Sainz (speaking before it was clear it was human rather than software error) was furious:
“Half of the cars did the lap with half a second quicker engine than the others. There was another software issue with the cars this time around and we were on the bad end of it,” Sainz said.
“For whatever reason, the FIA, like in Malaysia, didn’t decide to do sporting equity and were happy to do half of the cars in quali with higher power than the other half of the cars. So a bit confused why the sport keeps doing different things depending on who is out in Q1 or who is out in lap one.” Reuters
Reports that the FIA has borrowed and adapted Homer Simpson’s “days without an accident” sign from the nuclear power station remain unconfirmed.
Not that things have been much better at Mercedes, at least with regard to George Russell, who fared even worse in Bahrain-in-Malaysia than the FIA’s IT helpdesk. His engine failure meant nul points in that race, relegation to the back of the main race grid here and another penalty to come, as the new engine he has taken here will not last to the end of the season. Still, he has bounced back with second on the grid for the sprint, behind Max Verstappen, followed by Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri: four different cars in the first four. Kimi Antonelli – of whom more anon – is down in seventh.
Join me from 9.30am BST for the buildup to the sprint – 10am BST start, with qualifying to follow at 2pm.
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