George Russell cruises to a Singapore Grand Prix win as Max Verstappen continues his resurgence and a potential flash point for the Championship battle to settle post-race for McLaren. Talking of flash, our 2025 Singapore F1 Grand Prix Result Summary is the perfect accompaniment to the original night race..
This 2025 Singapore Grand Prix Result, Laps that Matter summary, Review & Ratings gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
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2025 Singapore F1 Grand Prix Result Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Here’s where we capture the laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – George Russell took a surprise pole position beating Max Verstappen and the McLarens who were surprisingly not as fast as expected in Q3 – they line up 3rd (Piastri) and 5th (Norris). Kimi Antonelli had a good session and lines up 4th, while the Ferraris were slightly off the pace again, but expected more on a street track. Isack Hadjar threatened to disrupt the top cars but settled for 8th, and Oliver Bearman was a notable 9th. Williams drivers were both disqualified from qualifying and will start from the back – a DRS infringement the cause.
Race day, or night as it is in Singapore is wet. It rained an hour before the start. But it is not wet enough to make wet tyres an absolute certainty so lots of guessing and potentially second guessing what tyre to use. It doesn’t actually seem that wet as the cars leave the grid for the Warm Up Lap. It seems all cars have gone with dry tyres, mostly mediums except for Max Verstappen on softs. A first lap tangle and Safety Car seems a certainty here.
GRID (Starting Order) – RUS VER PIA ANT NOR HAM LEC HAD BEA ALO
Lap 1 – George Russell gets a great start and keeps Max Verstappen behind. Lando Norris makes a great start and gains two places including getting the elbows out on his team mate Piastri, and there was allegedly slight contact and Norris has a small amount of damage on his front wing. Further back, and less Championship defining, Antonelli drops a few spots as Charles Leclerc gains. Replays of the start show contact between Lando Norris and Piastri and Max Verstappen. The rest of the grid play nice and all 20 cars
ORDER – RUS VER NOR PIA LEC ANT HAM HAD ALO BEA
Lap 3 – Oscar Piastri is filthy on the radio, suggesting Norris’ first corner moves “were not team like” and asking whether banging wheels was ok now. Not much of a response from McLaren, and Sky commentary as you’d expect. Piastri does need to move on quickly as he is dropping off the back of his team mate, and nothing is going to change.
Lap 6 – More replays of the start show that Oscar Piastri is pretty justified being grumpy, as Sky commentary change their tune. Either because of the evidence presented and/or the realisation that most non-English F1 fans think they’re massively biased.
Lap 7 – In non McLaren news George Russell sets more fastest laps and leads Max Verstappen by 3.7 seconds, who is 1.8 seconds ahead of Lando Norris.
ORDER – RUS VER NOR PIA LEC ANT HAM ALO HAD BEA
Lap 10 – George Russell is cruising out in front with a five second lead now, as Max Verstappen falls backwards and into the future plans of Lando Norris. Oscar Piastri is over 3.6 seconds behind Norris, so hard to argue that Norris isn’t the faster of the McLarens right now. He’d be primed to undercut Verstappen, but is on the medium tyres while Verstappen is on the Softs, so Verstappen is more likely to pit first.
Lap 14 – First pit stops are here, Yuki Tsunoda for tyres and Gabriel Bortoleto for tyres and a front wing. Replays of the start show that Bortoleto’s front wing was nudged by Lance Stroll, no surprise. Talking of nudges, Lando Norris nudges the wall but appears ok for now. He’s even closer to Max Verstappen than previously, so losing nothing.
Lap 17 – McLaren look to be bringing in Lando Norris, and even get the tyres out of the blankets, but they tell him to stay out and the mechanics take their tyres with them.
Lap 19 – Oscar Piastri appears to have woken up and takes a little chunk out of the deficit to Norris ahead. Maybe he’s been nursing tyres and a grudge all this time.
Lap 20 – Red Bull pits Max Verstappen and he drops to 7th, but crucially in front of Fernando Alonso, but only just. And probably just not enough for McLaren to do so the next lap. So McLaren will need to wait and have lost the opportunity to undercut. Probably unaware of all the excitement, George Russell is over 10 seconds clear of Norris.
Lap 22 – Charles Leclerc pits for tyres, probably the lowest runners to care about pitting perhaps. The Ferrari comes out behind The Hulk, who you occasionally forget is in the race. Leclerc doesn’t forget to breeze past the Sauber a few corners later.
Lap 23 – Max Verstappen, on hard tyres after his pit stop is told he is allowed to push now. He’ll need to, he’s 20 seconds and probably a McLaren pitstop behind Norris. Although, we can’t be sure if that will be a Norris pit stop or a Piastri pitstop. And if it is a Norris pit stop, will McLaren ask Max Verstappen to give back the place.
Lap 24 – Talking of McLarens, they are picking up the pace and Norris is slicing into the lead of Russell, albeit still over 9 seconds behind.
Lap 25 – Lewis Hamilton pits, which is more important for Max Verstappen than Lewis’ overall effect on the race as it clears the path for the Red Bull who was closing in quickly.
Lap 26 – George Russell pits from the lead, and his team mate does so from further behind. Russell comes out only behind the McLarens.
Lap 27 – Lando Norris pits and will he get out in front of Verstappen…..No. He’s 3.5 seconds behind but is on fresher tyres. Piastri stays out and leads the race. Maybe he’ll stay out and hope for a Safety Car. He could do with some luck. No luck, he pits at the end of the lap, and it’s a slow one. The left rear wheel won’t come off, and the five second stop costs him time, but at least not a position to Charles Leclerc. No luck for Oscar Piastri today/tonight. He has no one to give him a spot back to.
ORDER – RUS VER NOR PIA LEC ANT HAM LAW STR OCO
Lap 31 – As the dust settles from the pit stops, George Russell leads, but not with as much ease as prior to the stop. His lead is only 3.6 seconds now to Max Verstappen who is currently faster. Of the McLarens, Oscar Piastri is slightly faster post pit stops, but is a long way behind (over nine seconds) to do anything to annoy Lando Norris.
Lap 33 – An indication of on track action is the camera showing a battle for 9th between Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman in a wonderful mix of experience, youth and apathy towards F1. Replays also show Pierre Gasly clipping the wall. Given the pace of his Alpine it wouldn’t surprise if he privately hopes it’s terminal damage.
Lap 35 – Max Verstappen has closed to within 2.8 seconds of George Russell now and shows no signs of slowing. Maybe a battle for the lead is coming, and pretty sure they not the biggest fans of each other. How about a little hate to liven up this race.
Lap 37 – A nice battle between Fernando Alonso and Isack Hadjar for 13th sees the veteran eventually pass the Racing Bulls rookie, who has engine troubles. Alonso dubs himself “Hero of the Race” on the team radio post-overtake.
Lap 39 – Talking of car issues, Max Verstappen is having some, and he runs wide at turn two and loses a couple of seconds to George Russell. It also lets Lando Norris close in to under two seconds to Verstappen. Piastri is closing in on Norris, but not by enough to make life interesting.
ORDER – RUS VER NOR PIA LEC ANT HAM LAW SAI BEA
Lap 43 – As the race drags on, the midfield battles heat up. Alonso passes Albon as he runs wide, same for Yuki Tsunoda on one of the Alpines, neither matter. You could argue the same for Yuki. Nice guy, but wasting that Red Bull. Or are Red Bull wasting Tsunoda. Maybe both.
Lap 45 – Lando Norris is really trying his hardest to catch up to Max Verstappen, he may well get the Red Bull too, or put it into the wall. Both are possible. They are about to hit a train of midfielders, and not the soccer-ing type. This could be a big race moment.
Lap 46 – Nico Hulkenberg spins, and first thought is race saving Safety Car, but he recovers and so does the race.
Lap 47 – Lando Norris closes within a second and opens up DRS opportunities. Max Verstappen is really struggling with his car, as Norris is only a car length or two away. Maybe it will end in tears. But the McLaren does seem a lot faster. So does Piastri who has closed the gap to Norris from nine-ish second to under four. For the record, George Russell is loving life in front as he builds his lead to over five seconds.
Lap 50 – The Verstappen-Norris gap is still under one second and they are now free of midfield traffic giving Norris a decent shot at the Red Bull.
Lap 53 – Lando Norris is so close to Verstappen he pulls alongside the outside of the Red Bull during the lap. Norris might want to hurry, Piastri is looking fast now as well. Sadly the longer pit stop is costing him here.
Lap 54 – Lance Stroll is on the radio complaining about tyres. He can always quit F1 for good and forever.
Lap 56 – The gap between Norris and Verstappen is edging to outside a second, depriving McLaren of DRS. Piastri is under three seconds to Lando Norris now.
Lap 57 – Verstappen v Norris rages on and the McLaren is back on the tail of the Red Bull, but DRS isn’t helping enough for now.
FINAL LAP – George Russell is hard to find for TV cameras as he has had that kind of invisible race in front, but they do show him crossing the line for another win for 2025. Max Verstappen holds off Lando Norris well and Piastri closed in, but not by enough to interest anyone. Kimi Antonelli did well to rebuild his reputation ruined in the middle of the season. Lewis Hamilton faces a potential penalty for track limits, but that will be decided long after we hit publish on this piece.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – RUS VER NOR PIA ANT LEC HAM ALO BEA SAI
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. 5 points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – GEORGE RUSSELL
Took a great pole, made an excellent start, and disappeared into the distance in the race.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
LANDO NORRIS – Grabbed the Championship battle by the scruff of the neck with some aggressive first corner work. But all power to him, as he was clearly the faster McLaren driver on the day, and finished in the podium position that McLaren needed to be Constructors Champions.
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Qualified second on a track where he and his Red Bull doesn’t usually excel. A sluggish first stint on soft tyres, but a zooming second stint on hard tyres sees him close in on George Russell, but then he fell back into the DRS zone of Lando Norris, but being Max, does his thing and holds off the faster McLaren.
KIMI ANTONELLI – A clean weekend with a very good 4th in qualifying, and despite dropping a few places at the start due to being on the worse side of the track, drove a solid race for good points.
FERNANDO ALONSO – Nearly best of the rest in qualifying, but raced as feisty as ever in the midfield, showing no lack of pace, unlike others in the same team.
OLIVER BEARMAN – Solid Q3 and points from the Haas rookie.
THE GRAPE-EST – WILLIAMS
Qualifying times taken away and sent to the back of the grid after a DRS infringement. Did get a point, but underwhelming.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
OSCAR PIASTRI – Lost a place at the start to his team mate, who he felt was too aggressive, and he might be right. Then a slow pit stop confined him to a lonely old race in fourth.
NICO HULKENBERG – Mediocre qualifying and race spoiled by an off during the race. He did resume, but last.
PIERRE GASLY – Ran last in the race, beaten by his team mate. Wasn’t that long ago he was annoying the front runners in qualifying at certain circuits.
Was it a good race, loads of action, a tense ending, a surprise result or DNF, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
PRE RACE ACTION (FP, QUAL, SPRINT, OFF TRACK etc) – 2 / 5
A surprise pole position for George Russell and the surprise of McLaren being slightly off the pace in Q3 is mildly interesting.
ON TRACK ACTION (RACE) – 5 / 10
There were a few good scraps in the midfield as ever. Lando Norris v Max Verstappen was tense enough as the McLaren chased the Red Bull at the end.
ANY SURPRISES? – 2 / 5
George Russell’s dominance is a bit of a surprise, as was McLaren’s lack of pace in qualifying. Norris’ first laps moves surprised his team mate a little, but not really surprising given what’s at stake between them.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 5 / 5
The move of Lando Norris on Oscar Piastri feels like one of those Senna/Prost or Hamilton/Rosberg moments where we will refer back to when it goes really pear shaped between the two drivers. The continued upgraded pace of Verstappen might end up being very important as McLaren might need to start covering Verstappen for the Championship rather than covering up their bias for Norris.
ENDING – 4 / 5
The Max Verstappen v Lando Norris chase at the end was reasonably exciting. Especially after the first half of the race was pretty dull.
OVERALL RATING – 18 / 30
A dullish race livened up towards the end as Norris tried to pass Verstappen. Norris’ early move on Piastri on lap one could be a big moment for the Championship, on and/or off track.
2025 F1 Season Race Ratings
R1 – Australian Grand Prix – 27/30
R2 – Chinese Grand Prix – 11/30
R3 – Japanese Grand Prix – 18/30
R4 – Bahrain Grand Prix – 19/30
R5 – Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – 17/30
R6 – Miami Grand Prix – 17/30
R7 – Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – 20/30
R8 – Monaco Grand Prix – 21/30
R9 – Spanish Grand Prix – 15/30
R10 – Canadian Grand Prix – 18/30
R11 – Austrian Grand Prix – 20/30
R12 – British Grand Prix – N/A but was great
R13 – Belgian Grand Prix – 13/30
R14 – Hungarian Grand Prix – 22/30
R15 – Dutch Grand Prix – 22/30
R16 – Italian Grand Prix – 16/30
R17 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – 20/30
2025 F1 Season Preview Gear
F1 2025 SEASON – THINGS TO LOOK FOR AND AVOID
F1 DONKEY AUSTRALIAN GP BOLD PREDICTIONS
