2025 Singapore Grand Prix

The Singapore Grand Prix is this weekend, the race that began everything & as they market themselves the original night race. The numbers behind the floodlit race underline just how complex an event it is to put on. 108,423m of power cables, 240 steel pylons & around 1,600 light projectors with a total power requirement of 3,180,000 watts are used to light the track for the drivers. The effect is that the track is lighter than at midday on a sunny day & 4 times brighter than a football stadium.

The organizers were likely relieved the race wasn’t scheduled for last weekend, as Singapore was feeling the tail end of Typhoon Ragasa, which ripped through the Philippines’ remote northern islands on Monday before hitting Taiwan, Hong Kong, & southern China. i was looking the weather last weekend & there were many thunderstorms around. in particular no rain fell during but before the race their was a 3 hour thunderstorm before at 90% humidity. which would've been another chance for F1 to embarrass them. by delaying the start until a dry line appeared. because as we know now F1 is no longer allowed to race in wet anymore


Thankfully, this weekend is looking much drier, and if any rain does arrive, it would likely fall during FP2 and FP3. That’s great news for Lando Norris because after Baku when the door was wide open. for him to close the title battle. Like brazil 2024 Norris underwhelmed, starting 7th & finishing 7th, after piastri crashed out. with his poor starts costing him again. when he lost places at the start dropping to 8th & then dropping to 9th. piastri wouldve been secretly delighted to have left baku only losing 6pts

Red Bull’s recent upturn, with Verstappen looking back to his best after dominant wins in Monza & Baku, will be worrying McLaren. It might be circuit-specific, where they’re strong in low-drag Circuits but if Max take pole or puts it on the front row & start challenging McLaren in the high downforce Singapore layout, alarm bells will ring. McLaren won’t want a 2007-style deja vu, losing a 2 horse race in the final 3 rounds despite having both horses in the race

On the bright side for McLaren, the title will realistically be decided in Singapore. fpr T shirts to stay in their boxes, McLaren would need to be outscored by Mercedes by 31 points or more, & by Ferrari by 35 points or more. In practical terms,
  • if Mercedes or Ferrari dont win - Mclaren win
  • if even 1 of Piastri or Norris finishes 5th, - McLaren win
  • if both drivers finish 7th & 8th, - McLaren win

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Lando made places at the start :o where is the real lando & what have they done with him ;)

im with norris on the lap 1 incident. this is a world title fight. too often these 2 drivers are forgetting this. norris isnt going to let piastri win this title easily. who cares if your team mate hates you if your world champion
 
it was an enjoyable race for me, Russell drove brilliantly, although we barely saw them. & that thing with Hamilton was crazy, great strategy . i dont think i can remember when a driver ran out of brakes like Hamilton did today.

but on to the major point, there’s definitely been a noticeable mentality shift from Lando today. Whether it came from him, his dad, or someone inside the team, it showed probably 1 of the best starts of his career, actually making up places on lap 1 for the 1st time this season. But most importantly, he dropped the nice, considerate act. Not giving up pit priority & going for that lap 1 move felt like the Lando i’ve been waiting to see.

We’ve known all season that 1 of them would eventually have to get ruthless & today it finally happened. For me, it was a perfectly fair move, the door was open, Norris went for it, no different to what Oscar did in Monza 2024 & it came from a driver who knows he has to take risks. I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing the gloves come off now, because this is a world title fight. Too often these 2 have forgotten that. Norris shouldn’t let Piastri stroll to this title, who cares if your teammate hates you, if you end the year as world champion
 
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Lando made places at the start :o where is the real lando & what have they done with him ;)

im with norris on the lap 1 incident. this is a world title fight. too often these 2 drivers are forgetting this. norris isnt going to let piastri win this title easily. who cares if your team mate hates you if your world champion
Tell that to the Aussies
 
Well the Piastri fans think Mclaren favour Norris

Another turd race

Russell - what a performance after hus P2 crash

Verstappen - the quali was key

Norris got his elbows out

Piastri - remember Hakkinen 99

Leclerc - subdued weekend

Hamilton - sums his season just when he was overtaking Antonellj - the brakes go
 
Piastri really was moaning like a child during that race…
  • Norris’ move on the first corner was tight, but ultimately the contact was a racing incident - it was no more rude than Piastri’s elbows out at the first lap of Monza last year
  • I can’t believe that he suggested that they swap the order - his fans also made this much worse, by xomparing this to Monza 2025 - which was a completely different situation.
All through the race, Piastri was slower than Norris, even though Norris had a broken front wing. The last couple of races, we have seen Oscar looking rattled - I wouldn’t be surprised to see another issue in the next race…

As an aside, we are getting awfully close for the difference between the two drivers to be down to Lando’s engine failure!
 
i liked the race, more for the title implications but i also think that its was more poor tv direction & the tv director needs sacking, it was awful at times, never showed antonelli overtaking leclerc. showed none of sainz late charge & worst of it all was we all forced to look at the timing tower to see if hamilton finished or even if alonso overtook him
 
Another turd race

I am glad the ground effect age will come to an end

Piastri is reminding me of Hakkinen 99 now

It will be interesting if Mercedes can keep up because I think Russell might limit what Verstappen can do make in roads to Piastri

Ferrari just frustrate me how they keep getting it wrong just when they look good

6 races and 2 sprints left = 166pts
 
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Ground effect was supposed to combat the dirty air & in 2022 it worked, but its like 2017 they got so much downforce its becoming impossible to overtake at any track & i believe its car based not circuit

Norris was a second lap quicker than max im guessing. on stats & even with DRS, 8 lap better tyres. he had no chance. i will be delighted when these cars go. 2026 new regulations cant be any worse
 
Ground effect was supposed to combat the dirty air & in 2022 it worked, but its like 2017 they got so much downforce its becoming impossible to overtake at any track & i believe its car based not circuit

Norris was a second lap quicker than max im guessing. on stats & even with DRS, 8 lap better tyres. he had no chance. i will be delighted when these cars go. 2026 new regulations cant be any worse
I know that this will be relatively unpopular, but I wonder if F1 is actually at a point that it is unsalvageable. Computers are meaning that cars are increasingly efficient at creating downforce (and by design, dirty air). Similarly, computers mean that engineering tolerances are now so precise that cars no longer fail (save for the odd occasion - cough, Lando). The engine configuration also means that much of races are run at relatively low pace, as they are constantly on fuel save.

I still pine for F1 of the late 80s and very early 90s. Yes, you got processional races (e.g. Mansell couldn't pass Patrese at Mangey Course in 1992), but there was also uncertainty. Cars could start away from pole, and still win the race. Overtaking meant something. Drivers could choose whether to stop for tyres or not. Drivers could even choose to have different compound tyres on different sides of the car.

Overtaking in F1 needs to be difficult, but possible. Current F1 rules seem to mean that either overtaking is impossible (e.g. Singapore) or is super-easy at the end of a long straight.
 
I know that this will be relatively unpopular, but I wonder if F1 is actually at a point that it is unsalvageable.
Said this for sometime.

I fully agree with your reasoning as well.

They simply know too much these days. They can stimulate everything.

We celebrate the lack of difference between the fastest and slowest cars but that's a problem not a great thing. It's now impossible to have the speed differential to overtake without push to pass.

Cars rarely breakdown, teams rarely luck upon a track busting set up. There's no difference in tyre choices. Strategies are predictable and similar to within a lap either way.

There's almost no unpredictability anymore.
 
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