Autobayng News Team
As usual the Singapore Grand Prix saw little in the way of racing – and the television director largely missed the action which did occur.
Nonetheless there were several stand-out performances plus a winner few predicted before the weekend began. Here’s RaceFans’ verdict on how the full field performed.
Lando Norris
Qualified: 5th (2 places behind team mate, +0.062s)
Grid: 5th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 3rd (1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Suffered illness during weekend
▶ Hit by Leclerc in bizarre pit lane incident in second practice
▼ Sector times indicated he had a tenth of a second in hand over Piastri, but qualified behind him
▲ Passed Antonelli and Piastri at the start but damaged an endplate on Verstappen’s car
▶ Hounded Verstappen all race long
8/10: Made up for qualifying with a combative start to the race
Oscar Piastri
Qualified: 3rd (2 places ahead of team mate, -0.062s)
Grid: 3rd (2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 4th (1 place behind team mate)
▶ Didn’t look as quick as Norris through practice but beat him to third in qualifying
▶ Was unhappy with his team mate’s forceful pass on him at turn three
▶ Delayed by another slow McLaren pit stop
7/10: Mistakenly thought he’d done enough in turn two to discourage Norris’s turn three lunge
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Charles Leclerc
Qualified: 7th (1 place behind team mate, +0.096s)
Grid: 7th (1 place behind team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 6th (2 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Said he made a mistake in the final sector after qualifying behind Hamilton
▲ Made the most of starting on the clean side, gained two places at the start to run fifth
▶ Had to comply with repeated instructions to back off for his brakes during the race
▶ Fifth was clearly the best result available
7/10: Shame to see car problems waste a great start
Lewis Hamilton
Qualified: 6th (1 place ahead of team mate, -0.096s)
Grid: 6th (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-S)
Finished: 8th (2 places behind team mate)
▶ Avoid a penalty for speeding under a red flag in final practice
▶ Justified his recent comments about feeling happier in the car by beating Leclerc to sixth
▶ Another driver who lost a place from the dirty side of the grid at the start
▶ Made a second pit stop for soft tyres which gave him a shot at fifth
▶ Suffered a front-left brake failure late in the race
▼ Backed off significantly and went off the track several times, beat Alonso to seventh, but collected a penalty
7/10: Could he have committed one fewer track limits breach and kept seventh?
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Max Verstappen
Qualified: 2nd (13 places ahead of team mate, -0.781s)
Grid: 2nd (11 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (S-H)
Finished: 2nd (10 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Immediately looked more competitive in Singapore than Red Bull have been recently
▶ Blamed Norris for costing him time in Q3 though he wasn’t on course to beat Russell
▶ Started on softs but wasn’t able to get past Russell due to lack of grip off-line
▼ Made a few errors, notably at turn 14, as car became a handful during race
▲ Resisted pressure from Norris for second place
8/10: Clearly struggled with his car in the race and did well to hold on to second
Yuki Tsunoda
Qualified: 15th (13 places behind team mate, +0.781s)
Grid: 13th (11 places behind team mate)
Start: -3 places
Strategy: One-stop (S-H)
Finished: 12th (10 places behind team mate)
▼ Didn’t run Red Bull’s new front wing in qualifying, struggled for grip and was last in Q2
▼ Started on softs but fell to 17th as several drivers passed him including Hulkenberg on mediums
▼ Ocon passed him on lap two
▼ Was unable to pass Ocon on mediums
▶ Made an early pit stop for hards and ran to the end but was passed by Sainz
4/10: Even with the difference in car specification this was another deeply disappointing performance
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Qualified: 4th (3 places behind team mate, +0.379s)
Grid: 4th (3 places behind team mate)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 5th (4 places behind team mate)
▶ Immediately looked confident on an unfamiliar track in practice
▼ Decent fourth on grid but should have been ahead of Piastri
▼ Passed by Norris and Leclerc at the start
▲ Pulled off a smart pass on lift-and-coasting Leclerc at turn 16
6/10: Ferrari’s struggles flattered him in the grand prix
George Russell
Qualified: 1st (3 places ahead of team mate, -0.379s)
Grid: 1st (3 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 1st (4 places ahead of team mate)
▼ Crashed in second practice
▲ Tapped Mercedes’ unexpected speed from Q2 and set two laps quick enough for pole
▶ Kept his lead at the start and pulled away from Verstappen and Norris
▶ Controlled proceedings at a track where Mercedes never expected to be competitive for a comfortable win
9/10: Never put a foot wrong after his crash on Friday
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Lance Stroll
Qualified: 17th (7 places behind team mate, +0.204s)
Grid: 15th (5 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (S-M)
Finished: 13th (6 places behind team mate)
▼ Car was good enough for Q3 but Stroll went out in Q1 after a mistake in the final sector
▶ Moved up to 14th at the start
▶ Ran longer than anyone on softs, hoping for a Safety Car
▲ Pulled off an opportunistic double pass on Ocon and Gasly on his way to 13th
6/10: The usual qualifying underperformance plus optimistic strategy, though he pulled off a neat double pass
Fernando Alonso
Qualified: 10th (7 places ahead of team mate, -0.204s)
Grid: 10th (5 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (S-M)
Finished: 7th (6 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Grabbed the last place in Q3 but didn’t gain as much time as his rivals in the final 10
▲ Got ahead of Hadjar at the start to run eighth
▶ Lost time with a slow pit-stop
▶ Passed Hadjar and Albon
▶ Narrowly failed to catch Hamilton at the finish but promoted to seventh by his penalty
8/10: Excellent recovery after poor pit stop
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Franco Colapinto
Qualified: 18th (2 places ahead of team mate, -0.279s)
Grid: 16th (3 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: One-stop (S-M)
Finished: 16th (3 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Said he was happier with the car on Saturday but blamed traffic for failure to reach Q2
▲ Started on softs and made a terrific start, gaining three places
▶ Made the earliest switch to the medium tyre compound, which proved too optimistic and he struggled for pace later
▶ Lost four places in the final 10 laps as his tyres faded
7/10: Ambitious strategy did not look likely to pay off after great start
Pierre Gasly
Qualified: 20th (2 places behind team mate, +0.279s)
Grid: 19th (3 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-S)
Finished: 19th (3 places behind team mate)
▶ Slim chance of reaching Q2 ended when his car stopped due to a ‘suspected oil protection cut’
▶ Started from the pit lane after a set-up change
▶ Scrapping hard with Ocon cost them both places to Stroll
▶ Switched to softs for third stint and passed Hulkenberg on the final lap
5/10: Put in the shade by his team mate
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Esteban Ocon
Qualified: 19th (10 places behind team mate, +0.569s)
Grid: 17th (8 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 18th (9 places behind team mate)
▶ Looked in great shape after setting the seventh fastest time in practice on Friday
▶ Seat belt problem and yellow flag condemned him to a Q1 elimination
▲ Passed Tsunoda on lap two
▶ Spent much of his race stuck in a DRS train
6/10: Had good pace but rotten luck in qualifying consigned him to a miserable race
Oliver Bearman
Qualified: 9th (10 places ahead of team mate, -0.569s)
Grid: 9th (8 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 9th (9 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Avoided team mate’s misfortune but debut Q3 appearance in Singapore was still impressive
▶ Made contact with Hadjar at the start as he tried to go around the outside of him
▲ Passed Albon after his pit stop but couldn’t get by Sainz
▶ Recovered 10th place after Sainz pitted for final point
7/10: Strong in qualifying but couldn’t follow Alonso past Sainz
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Isack Hadjar
Qualified: 8th (6 places ahead of team mate, -0.304s)
Grid: 8th (4 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (S-H)
Finished: 11th (4 places ahead of team mate)
▲ Consistently quick from the start of the weekend and out-qualified team mate…
▼ …but knew he could have started even higher
▶ Swapped places with Alonso at the start but ended up behind him
▶ Picked up an engine problem after his pit stop
▶ Fought hard with Alonso a second time but dropped behind the Aston Martin
▶ Lost final points place to Sainz with three laps to go
8/10: Deserved a point for slogging away with under-powered car
Liam Lawson
Qualified: 14th (6 places behind team mate, +0.304s)
Grid: 12th (4 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-S)
Finished: 15th (4 places behind team mate)
▼ Crashed twice in practice
▼ Qualified 14th, well below the car’s potential
▶ Moved up to 12th at the start
▶ Dropped behind Albon after pit stop and was held up by the Williams
▶ Followed Albon past the stragglers for 15th
5/10: As he admitted, practice crashes left him at a disadvantage
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Alexander Albon
Qualified: 12th (1 place ahead of team mate, -0.033s)
Grid: 20th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-S)
Finished: 14th (4 places behind team mate)
▶ Unable to set a lap time in first practice due to brake fire
▶ Beat Sainz in qualifying but both cars were disqualified
▶ Started from the pit lane after a set-up change to his suspension
▼ Heavy lock-up while fighting Alonso forced him into early pit stop
▶ Williams used him to delay Lawson to help Sainz score a point
▶ Finished 14th after compromised race running development item
5/10: Was always likely to have to play the team game but lock-up didn’t help
Carlos Sainz Jnr
Qualified: 13th (1 place behind team mate, +0.033s)
Grid: 18th (2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (M-S)
Finished: 10th (4 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Narrowly lost to Albon in qualifying before team suffered double disqualification
▶ Started eighth and stayed out until he reached ninth
▲ Kept Bearman behind for many laps until he pitted
▲ Tore past cars on older tyres after late pit stop for softs
8/10: 18th-to-10th looked great but he owed a debt of gratitude to Albon
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Nico Hulkenberg
Qualified: 11th (5 places ahead of team mate, -0.105s)
Grid: 11th (3 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-H-S)
Finished: 20th (3 places behind team mate)
▲ Ended long run of qualifying defeats to Bortoleto and came close to reaching Q3
▶ Fell behind Tsunoda when he pitted, compromising his race
▼ Spun at turn seven
▶ Fell to last when Gasly passed him
6/10: Looked like he was going to have a better weekend after qualifying
Gabriel Bortoleto
Qualified: 16th (5 places behind team mate, +0.105s)
Grid: 14th (3 places behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-H)
Finished: 17th (3 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Arguably missed a place in Q2 by backing off more than rivals for yellow flag
▶ Had to pit early to replace a damaged front wing after knocking Stroll’s car on lap one
▶ Ran a long final stint on hards but faded at the end, dropping four places to 17th
6/10: Compromised by his qualifying result and first-lap contact with Stroll
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Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
2025 Singapore Grand Prix
- 2025 Singapore Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
- “I can’t go any slower”: How Williams used Albon to get Sainz into the points
- Alonso criticises TV coverage after broadcast misses last-lap drama with Hamilton
- Ferrari must fix ‘lift-and-coast’ problem admits Vasseur after Leclerc’s radio outburst
- ‘At a time when it should be more difficult to dominate, we’ve done it’ – Norris
