McLaren shall be seeking to put their terrible weekend in Azerbaijan behind them as F1 returns following a two-week break with the Singapore Grand Prix.
Can Max Verstappen drive McLaren errors?
Following spectacular back-to-back victories in Italy and Azerbaijan, the most important query leaving Baku was whether or not Max Verstappen is again on this yr’s title race.
Verstappen appeared to have already dominated out his possibilities of retaining his crown earlier this summer time amid a run of inconsistent type and McLaren dominance, however Pink Bull’s latest revival has reopened an unlikely dialog.
The Dutchman’s dominant win in Baku noticed him shut the hole to championship chief Oscar Piastri – who crashed out – to 69 factors with seven rounds nonetheless remaining.
With 199 factors on the desk throughout the ultimate seven grands prix and three dash races, it’s completely nonetheless doable that Verstappen may win a fifth consecutive world championship, however it might require a seismic, successfully flawless-run from his facet, whereas he would additionally want McLaren’s drivers to run into hassle.
The one issue Verstappen can management is his personal efficiency, and from that perspective, he might be relied upon to ship. Nonetheless, as phenomenal as Verstappen is, this looks like a bridge too far in actuality. All he can do is preserve making use of the stress within the hope McLaren and their drivers crack.
Verstappen has by no means gained in Singapore earlier than and it has been one thing of a bogey circuit for Pink Bull lately. If Verstappen can pull off a shock third straight victory, alongside some drama for the McLarens, the controversy will solely get louder.
Verstappen has momentum on his facet
How will Oscar Piastri (and Lando Norris) reply?
McLaren endured their worst weekend of the season in Baku as Piastri suffered an out-of-character meltdown that culminated in a self-inflicted retirement, whereas Lando Norris may solely end a disappointing seventh.
How Piastri responds to this setback shall be essential for the end result of this yr’s world championship. The Australian wants to ensure it was nothing greater than a uncommon blip, and bounce again with the form of serene efficiency we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from him.
The stress and highlight shall be on Piastri as he seems to be to show his mettle. Like Baku, Singapore throws up one other distinctive and brutal avenue circuit with little margin for error. There’s potential jeopardy in all places you look. In some ways, that is the final place Piastri may have wished to come back after his nightmare in Azerbaijan.
It looks like Piastri is heading right into a make-or-break take a look at for his title hopes, whereas Norris has some momentum on his facet, having held a tempo benefit over his teammate at latest occasions.
After their torrid displaying in Baku, McLaren are anticipated to return to type in Singapore, a spot the place Norris has good recollections having dominated final yr’s grand prix as he took an emphatic victory forward of Verstappen.
With simply 25 factors separating Piastri and Norris, it guarantees to be an enchanting and tense weekend.
Piastri had a weekend to overlook in Baku
A crowning second for McLaren?
Staying on the Papaya theme, McLaren may have their second try at clinching a historic constructors’ championship this weekend in Singapore.
McLaren are heading in the right direction to retaining their crown, which might mark the tenth time they’ve gained the constructors’ world title.
McLaren boast an enormous 333-point lead over Mercedes, who overtook Ferrari within the battle for second place in Azerbaijan. In easy phrases, all they want is to attain simply 13 factors to be topped world champions.
Such a feat would safe the championship with six races to spare and equal the document set by Pink Bull in 2023.
Contemplating McLaren have racked up 12 wins and 7 one-two finishes throughout the primary 17 rounds of 2025, it feels nearly inevitable that they are going to be celebrating one other championship triumph come Sunday night time.
Will Ferrari get on high of issues?
A botched late Ferrari staff order name in Azerbaijan noticed Lewis Hamilton fail to let teammate Charles Leclerc previous on the ultimate lap of the race.
With Leclerc on older onerous tyres in comparison with Hamilton on quicker mediums, the Monegasque allowed the seven-time world champion by means of to attempt to battle the vehicles forward.
When Hamilton was unable to overhaul, Ferrari instructed him at hand the place again to Leclerc, however regardless of slowing on the primary start-finish straight, Hamilton failed to take action by lower than half a second. This gave the impression to be attributable to gradual communication from the Ferrari staff and a misjudgement from Hamilton.
Leclerc was initially pissed off as he questioned Hamilton’s actions over staff radio, although he later downplayed the failed swap, insisting he was not bothered because it was just for a lowly P8 and P9 on one other dreadfully underwhelming weekend for Ferrari. Hamilton admitted it was his mistake and that he would apologise to Leclerc.
Ferrari shall be eager to make sure the incident doesn’t spill over into additional stress however the larger trigger for concern is outright efficiency and poor execution, which is letting the Italian staff down.
Each Hamilton and Leclerc have nice information in Singapore, although Hamilton comes into the weekend off the again of private heartbreak after his beloved canine Roscoe handed away on Sunday night.
Hamilton failed to offer the place again to Leclerc
Can Yuki Tsunoda preserve progressing?
Yuki Tsunoda’s upturn in type continued in Azerbaijan, the place the Japanese racer made one thing of a breakthrough impressed by adjustments he made within the simulator earlier than the weekend.
Tsunoda secured each his greatest qualifying and race consequence since becoming a member of Pink Bull by ending sixth in Baku. Arguably, extra importantly, Tsunoda seems to have rediscovered some confidence he had misplaced.
The slight downer to Tsunoda’s private progress in Baku was that Verstappen, in the identical automobile, dominated the race, and he was additionally overwhelmed by Liam Lawson within the Racing Bulls. Nonetheless, it was an vital step in the fitting path.
Tsunoda is combating to retain his place inside Pink Bull’s household however he is aware of he wants to provide these sorts of performances way more constantly over the remaining races. One good weekend is just not sufficient.
Singapore will present Tsunoda with an actual take a look at to see whether or not Baku was a one-off, or an encouraging signal of higher issues to come back.
