A Mercedes win on hot and steamy Singapore was not likely on many people’s bingo cards, but here we are after George Russell deftly defeated the might of Max Verstappen and the McLarens.

Leading after the first lap is crucial around Singapore, so a stellar pole lap and solid start were a big step towards the Briton’s second win of the season, but nevertheless the 27-year-old was good value for his win as Mercedes proved more competitive than most people expected.

Why did Mercedes excel when it usually struggles in the heat? Despite the Singapore climate, track temperatures during the nighttime event weren’t actually all that high, hovering around 33 to 34 degrees celsius, while the street circuit didn’t put high lateral loads through the tyres, similar to the Canadian Grand Prix which Russell also conquered. And then there’s the latest in a string of upgrades Mercedes brought, in the shape of a new front wing.

Credit should also go to its dependable lead driver. This is not new information, but Russell is proving time and time again he is driving as well as ever. So, how about that new contract?

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While McLaren is celebrating a second consecutive constructors’ title, Oscar Piastri will be flying home frustrated after seeing team-mate Lando Norris take a nibble out of his lead, which has shrunk to 22 points with six weekends remaining.

The manner in which it happened annoyed him more than the points swing, with Norris making side-to-side contact with his team-mate in Turn 3 after having to avoid Verstappen ahead.

From Piastri’s (limited) cockpit point of view, here was his team-mate “barging” his way past in a flagrant violation of the papaya rules of engagement, although when the Australian will see the replay he may take a more nuanced view. That is also why in his various media commitments Piastri remained cautious.

Whether you felt Norris’ move was great racing and his contact with Piastri just an unlucky consequence, or whether you felt Norris went too far, that’s up to you to decide. But what seems clear is that now the constructors’ title is buttoned up, the tension between McLaren’s drivers is rising.

The other observation, from Piastri’s radio messages suggesting McLaren should have a look at Norris’ actions, is that their controversial swap in Monza has set a precedent and that McLarens drivers are now seemingly expecting the team to intervene if they feel they were wronged by the other. That is going to be a tricky constellation to manage, but McLaren says it is confident it can.

Would Piastri have been asked to give the position up of the roles had been reversed in Singapore, as some fans suggest? We think that’s nonsense. As always, other opinions are available.

Lando Norris, McLaren

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Winner: McLaren

The latest episode of McLaren’s intra-team title battle saga shouldn’t detract too much from the fact that the team has signed, sealed and delivered another title, this time with two months left to run rather than on the final day of the championship.

Amid all the talk about flexing wings (now that feels like ages ago) and other ways McLaren was going to get caught, the team has by and large still dominated the 2025 season through sheer consistency while its rivals stumbled.

McLaren hasn’t been the team to beat for the past three weekends, which may be some cause for concern, but its lofty championship position has enabled it to shift resources to 2026 very early on. Its 2025 focus is now to further ensure it can keep the Norris v Piastri bout on the rails and keep it fair. It will only get tougher from here.

In the not-too-distant past Carlos Sainz won this race for Ferrari, but the Scuderia just hasn’t been able to keep up with its direct rivals. In the championship, it is being bailed out by Red Bull and Mercedes not scoring consistently with both cars, but in terms of grand prix wins any opportunities left by McLaren and Red Bull seem to go Russell’s way rather than Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton’s.

Singapore was another weekend where Ferrari just lacked pace and grip, with Leclerc particularly vocal about how awful the car was to drive. And given the varied sample size of circuits we have had so far, Ferrari now looks destined for a winless season.

To cap off a frustrating week Lewis Hamilton landed himself a penalty for trying to redraw the lines of the Marina Bay circuit, desperate to hold off a furious Fernando Alonso. It was just enough to drop him behind the Spaniard from seventh to eighth, with Leclerc sixth.

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Winner: Max Verstappen, Red Bull

Verstappen may have not taken a third consecutive win after his triumphs in Monza and Baku, but his second place in Singapore feels like the more significant performance for the team as a whole.

An easy race this was not. Verstappen struggled with the tyres, understeer, dodgy downshifts and was put under significant pressure by Norris, almost planting his Red Bull into the wall at one point.

But last year he was a distant second 20 seconds behind winner Norris, whereas now he had Russell within his sights and held off Norris. The pace was there, with the evidence mounting of Red Bull’s turnaround under team boss Laurent Mekies.

Mekies is too modest to take any credit for the upturn in form, but from what we’re hearing he has played a significant role behind the scenes in ensuring the Milton Keynes-based squad is not stuck in its ways and in helping its talented engineers communicate effectively, challenging the status quo.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated into a convincing run of results for the second car. Yuki Tsunoda has worked diligently to pick up his race performance, which he has done to a degree. But that doesn’t account for much at a tight circuit like Singapore when you qualify out of position, with Tsunoda eliminated from Q2 in 15th.

Tsunoda then seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when he lost two positions at the start. Having started on softs instead of mediums, that’s where his main chance to move up went begging.

At the end of the month Red Bull is expected to make a final decision and announcement on its future driver line-ups. Tsunoda is running out of time.

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Winner: Fernando Alonso

Singapore wasn’t a particularly exciting race, but we can all thank Alonso for adding a bit of entertainment with his feisty team radio messages. He declared Isack Hadjar the “hero of the race” after he felt the Frenchman was defending too aggressively despite a crippling power unit issue, and threatened to disconnect his radio after being talked to following a botched pitstop.

Even after all these years, an angry Alonso seems to be the best version of Alonso, and fired up by what had happened he secured an excellent eighth, which became seventh after Hamilton’s straightlining. Which the Spaniard was incensed about too. Never change, Fernando.

Honourable mentions for Haas rookie Oliver Bearman, whose all-action display netted ninth, and Carlos Sainz, who drove from the rear of the grid to collect a point.

This was a pretty woeful one for Sauber. Bortoleto qualified towards the rear and suffered front wing damage at the start after being sandwiched, while Nico Hulkenberg had a much more encouraging qualifying session but was also driving to P Nowhere in Singapore traffic until he suffered a spin, which he blamed on Franco Colapinto braking “100 metres early”.

Alpine’s story of the season is well known, so we don’t want to kick people when they’re down. But neither Pierre Gasly nor Colapinto are having a particularly enjoyable time on board a car that has seen its development halted early. Colapinto is, of course, still fighting for his future in difficult circumstances. Meanwhile, Gasly is counting down the days until Abu Dhabi and deserves credit for his commitment, even during a hopeless endeavour starting from the pitlane.

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– The Motorsport.com Team