Verstappen Closing In, Driver Decisions, and more ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix

What happened at the 2025 United States Grand Prix?

The 2025 United States Grand Prix brought two races: a sprint and a full race. Pole for both? Verstappen. Winner for both? Verstappen. Fastest lap for both? Verstappen...and Antonelli. You really thought. Still, though, what a weekend for the Red Bull star in a car that now looks good enough to win every race through Abu Dhabi. Verstappen now sits only 40 points behind Piastri, a very obtainable margin with five races still remaining and the clearly quicker car.

The sprint was absolute chaos. Nico Hulkenberg caused a ginormous crash into the first turn, knocking out a decent amount of the field, including, most importantly, both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. From there, Verstappen, who was able to escape from the turn unscathed, went on to dominate the sprint, winning the race by over three tenths and never giving up the lead. Russel finished second with another strong weekend and Sainz claimed his second podium of the season with a quiet ascent up to P3.

The race was much calmer, with only one driver DNFing (Sainz) and Verstappen winning by over seven seconds. Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, and Bearman all scored points to round out the top ten, but the more interesting battles were for P2 and P4. Leclerc passed Norris in the opening turn and, with weaker tires and a much slower car, managed to hold off Norris for an extremely long period before finally being passed and finishing with a very deserving podium and P3. Hamilton passed both Piastri and Russell and held P4 above the two to complete a 3-4 weekend for Ferrari at their most successful circuit in the past couple of years.

What happened in FP1 and FP2 in Mexico City?

Free Practice 1 was extremely interesting as it allowed us to get a glimpse of the potential future of F1. Junior and reserve drivers Pato O'Ward (McLaren), Arvid Lindblad (Red Bull), Frederik Vesti (Mercedes), Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari), Jak Crawford (Aston Martin), Luke Browning (Williams), Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls), Ryo Hirakawa (Haas), and Paul Aron (Alpine) all made showings in FP1, with Lindblad even finishing P6. In fact, the only team that didn't replace a driver with a reserve or junior driver was Kick Sauber, who had Bortoleto and Hulkenberg in their FP1 cars.

FP2 gave us much more insight into how this year's grid will fare in Mexico City, as all twenty current drivers were in their respective cars during the session. Verstappen again impressed, topping the timetables with Leclerc and Antonelli following. Tsunoda, Sainz, and both Aston Martins were other noteworthy top-10 finishers in FP2. Outside of the points, however, was a very concerningly slow Oscar Piastri, who was almost an entire second behind Verstappen and in P12.

Podium Predictions

Here are my predictions for the podium finishers at the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix:

Mexico City Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

   
   

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

   
   

3. George Russell (Mercedes)

Five Spicy Hot Takes

Now, let’s spice things up with some bold hot takes for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, rated from 1 to 5 spicy pepper emojis:

1. 🌶️ - Verstappen will win the race...by over ten seconds. Wait, what? I know, it's such a hot take. Yes, I think that Verstappen is good enough and quick enough to take a huge lead in this Grand Prix. He was almost a second faster than Piastri, who currently leads the Championship, so is it really that unrealistic? I'm starting to think about 2023 at the moment.

   
   

2. 🌶️🌶️ - Piastri misses the top five. Something seems to be going terribly wrong for Oscar Piastri. Yes, the McLaren car is clearly slower than the Red Bull at the moment, but Norris seems to still be turning the woes into decent results. Piastri's last three races? 20th, 4th, and 5th. And this weekend, he looks even slower.

   
   

3. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Albon finally scores. As a Williams fan, last weekend was especially difficult to watch. Albon's crash on lap one. Sainz's crash on lap six. Sure, the sprint was decent, but Albon has done nothing in the last few races. Albon's last three results are P13, P14, and P14 again. I think it's time for some points.

   
   

4. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Both Racing Bulls in the top ten. Lawson and Hadjar have only finished in the top ten together twice, but this feels like the weekend that they get their third double points finish. I don't know why. It just will happen.

   
   

5. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Lindblad or Aron. I think that either Arvid Lindblad or Paul Aron will be granted a seat in F1 between now and the Sao Paolo Grand Prix in a couple of weekends. Lindblad's more likely, but Colapinto still hasn't scored, and both drivers are knocking on the door. It's only a matter of time.

Championship Climax, Piastri to the Dark Side, Ferrari Fantasy, and more ahead of this weekend's US GP in Austin

Wow, my predictions a couple of weekends were terrible. Piastri definitely didn't win, but there's certainly argument he should have been on the podium (we'll go deep into detail on that later), picking Stroll was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever done, and of course I forgot George Russell existed ahead of the race he performs flawlessly at.

Singapore was, as we expected, nowhere close to being as entertaining as Baku, but it still held its share of surprises. I think it's important to get the winning story out of the way first. Well, GEORGE RUSSELL WON. Yes, I guess it's not that impressive considering that he has already won a race this season and has been one of the best drivers this season relative to his car, but Singapore was not the track Mercedes was supposed to excel at. Street circuits are much better for the MCL39, as their tight corners allow McLaren to take advantage of the car's strong downforce. Still, Russell taking pole and leading the entire race to win was an amazing delivery weeks in the coming for the Englishman.

For me, the more exciting news comes in the drivers' championship. Verstappen again finished the highest out of the three championship contenders and gained points on both Piastri and Norris. However, both Papayas almost crashed out of the race on the first lap when we witnessed an almost exact replica of a situation from the 2018 race when the two Force Indias went into the corner side by side. The difference? Perez forced Ocon into the wall and ended his race, but the combination of Piastri backing off and Norris giving his teammate a little bit of space allowed the two to avoid a collision. Norris was allowed to keep the spot and never let it up on the way to a podium.

Without further ado, let's get into our recap and predictions.

What happened at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?

We've already covered most of the storylines, but I wanted to finish up the Piastri story and highlight a couple of other drivers. Piastri could be in for a massive split with McLaren after the past couple of races in which the team has seemed to favor his teammate. In Monza, Norris had a slow pit stop during which he lost his position to Piastri, who was then instructed to give the position back to Norris "for the fairness of the title fight." However, in Singapore, Norris pulled off his dangerous overtake on Piastri to take third but was not instructed to give the position back to Piastri. Things seem to be getting tense between the Aussie and his constructor, and he even disconnected the team radio during the constructors' championship celebration out of frustration.

Elsewhere, Antonelli had another great weekend, finishing in fifth and extending his lead over Albon for seventh in the drivers' championship. Ferrari were able to secure points for both cars, while Bearman and Alonso also scored points finishes. Sainz gained nine and Albon six places in the Williams cars after disqualification that forced them to start at the back of the grid, and the team even took home a single point from a disappointing weekend.

Podium Predictions

Here are my predictions for the podium finishers at the 2025 United States Grand Prix:

United States Grand Prix Sprint

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

   
   

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

   
   

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

United States Grand Prix

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

   
   

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

   
   

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

Five Spicy Hot Takes

Now, let’s spice things up with some bold hot takes for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, rated from 1 to 5 spicy pepper emojis:

1. 🌶️ - Verstappen will win the Sprint. Max Verstappen is potentially the best race starter and qualifier on the grid, and nothing is more important for a sprint race. Verstappen has won the race three times already at COTA in his career and has traditionally excelled at sprint races. In fact, Verstappen has won over half of the sprint races held. Like, ever.

   
   

2. 🌶️🌶️ - The Papayas don't fight...yet. I know that after a couple of weekends ago this predictions seems a little strange, but I think that Piastri hasn't completely turned to the dark side or become fully selfish yet. I have a feeling he won't need to be battling with Norris as my prediction is that the Aussie will lead most of the race calmly, but I still think that Piastri will follow team orders to not crash into Norris if those orders arrive.

   
   

3. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Ferrari get a glimpse of last year. It's hard to remember, but last year Ferrari finished, out of nowhere, 1-2 at the US Grand Prix, with Verstappen in third. It was an outlier, but it is important to remember just how good their two drivers are in the right car and especially at this track. Hamilton has won FIVE times at COTA in his career, which is the record. Ferrari has no chance of what it did last year, but I could see Leclerc on the podium.

   
   

4. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Someone loses their seat. I want to deviate from racing for just a second. The time is coming for driver lineups to be announced officially for next season, and while the official confirmations are expected in either Mexico City or Sao Paolo, I think something, whether official or a leak, will be revealed this weekend.

   
   

5. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - An excelent weekend for Sauber. Maybe not for Hulkenberg, has he hasn't had a good weekend since the magic in Silverstone that delivered him the long-awaited podium, but I think at least for Bortoleto. I think Gabi will finish not only inside of the top ten, but inside of the top five, for his highest career finish.

Constructors' Clinch, Max's Kryptonite, and all you need to know about the hottest race of the year at this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix

Two weekends ago, I made some of the most accurate sports predictions of my life. Yes, I may have picked Max Verstappen to not score, but I also chose George Russel and Carlos Sainz as my P2 and P3 respectively (I'll admit I am biased as a Williams fan), which was the exact outcome of the non-winner podium positions. I also forecasted that McLaren would have to wait another couple of weekends to clinch, which was the case after Piastri's disastrous weekend and Norris's dissapointing Sunday.

And now we shift to what is truly the hottest race of the season, both physically and metaphorically. McLaren's chances at not clinching the constructors' championship is extremely slim. In fact, a podium by either driver would confirm the title for the Papayas. However, after last weekend's brilliance by Mercedes and Red Bull (yes, even you Yuki), McLaren may not clinch just yet if we see another iffy race from the championship leaders.

The more exciting news is the drivers' championship, which has been about Piastri and Norris all season. Well, who could have seen this one coming? The best driver in an F1 car on the planet has begun to claw his way back after his second consecutive victory in Baku and is now reasonably within reach of the Papaya duo. He's quite far (in fact a whole 69 points) behind Piastri, but you can never put anything past the Flying Dutchman.

Without further ado, let's get into our recap and predictions.

What happened at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?

Oops. Guess I already spoiled the winner. Not quite as unexpected as his win in Monza though. Verstappen's weekend was spectacular. Despite the qualifying chaos (we will definitely get into that), he calmly secured pole position ahead of Williams's surprise package Carlos Sainz and never gave up the lead in Baku. George Russel, despite feeling pretty badly, managed to put up a spectacular result with an even more superb drive around the historic city, eventually passing Sainz to take P2. The star of the weekend, though, was Carlos Sainz, who sat 17th in the drivers' championship heading into Baku and moved up a whole five spots. He took advantage of the red flags and slight wetness during qualifying to hold provisional pole for most of Q3 before being passed by Verstappen on the latter's last flying lap.

Other than the podium, there are plenty of things to unpack. Sainz's teammate Albon had a terrible weekend, qualifying 20th after an uncharacteristic crash, being unable to gain enough places to score points, and colliding with former teammate Franco Colapinto. Aston Martin, Alphie, Kick Sauber, and Haas were all unable to score points, occupying eight of the ten spots outside of the scoring.

It was a huge weekend for some of the youngsters, and especailly those in the Red Bull teams. Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli raced amazingly and was able to hold off veteran teammate Russel for much of the race, finishing fourth and just missing out on his second podium. Lawson and Hadjar both put times up on the board quickly in Q3 before the red flags and rain, and both converted high qualifying spots into points finishes, while Tsunoda was able to show an important glimpse of potential in the main team by finishing in sixth and holding off Norris.

Finally, qualifying. Watching qualifying at Baku made me question what on earth is going on with this year's field and the excitement that we've seen this season. We had six, yes six, red flags, a record all-time with three in Q1, one in Q2, and two in Q3. Albon, Hulkenberg, and both Alpines Gasly and Colapinto had scrapes with the wall in Q1, with Bearman hitting the wall and being unable to move on early in Q2. In Q3, Piastri crashed for the first time in the weekend and Leclerc experienced Baku flashbacks with his latest crash.

Free Practice Sessions 1 and 2

As teams took to Singapore, the first two free practice sessions provided key data on car performance and setups.

Free Practice 1

FP1 was a shock. Alonso topped the time sheet in the Aston Martin with Leclerc second in the Ferrari and Verstappen third in his Red Bull. McLaren took fifth and sixth with Hamilton, Hadjar, Sainz, and Tsunoda taking the final spots in the top ten. Albon's Williams sturggled in the heat, only allowing him to complete two laps before retiring for the session.

Free Practice 2

FP2 was topped by a much more typical name, with Piastri taking the fastest lap on the time sheet. However, the top 10 was much more atypical. Hadjar took second with Verstappen third, but the other two Red Bull/Racing Bulls cars landed outside of the top 10. McLaren and Aston Martin landed both drivers within the top six with Ocon and Sainz taking seventh and eighth and Ferrari occupying the final two spots in the top half.

Podium Predictions

With insights from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the practice sessions in Singapore, here are my predictions for the podium finishers at the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix:

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

   
   

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

   
   

3. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

   
   

Five Spicy Hot Takes

Now, let’s spice things up with some bold hot takes for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, rated from 1 to 5 spicy pepper emojis:

1. 🌶️ - McLaren will win the constructors'. Realistically, there's very little possiblity of this not coming true this week. McLaren just need a podium in their worst case scenario, which should be very likely in their high-downforce car.

   
   

2. 🌶️🌶️ - Verstappen gains on Norris again. Yep. Verstappen has been slowly gaining on both Papaya drivers for the past couple of weeks, but one of the McLarens surely has to halt his momentum. Norris is the historically much better driver in Singapore, but I think Verstappen will get within a race (25 points) of Norris by the end of the weekend. How about that for the four-time defending world champion?

   
   

3. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Stroll on the podium. Yeah, yeah, I don't like this either. Who does? Well, I think he's beyond due. The way the Aston Martin looks this weekend, you never know. It's been quite a while, so how about a fourth podium?

   
   

4. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Aston Martin will score the most points this weekend. Yes, Aston Martin has looked amazing so far this weekend, but they can't possibly keep this up. Right? No, Singapore is a very technical and difficult circuit where anything can happen to any team. If Alonso and Stroll race well, Aston Martin could very easily earn the English squad the top spot this weekend in terms of team points.

   
   

5. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Alpine drivers both score. No. Aston Martin and Stroll are not even close to being the hottest take. Yes, I have last-placed by far Alpine scoring both of their cars this week. They haven't scored since July at Spa and Colapinto has yet to score a single point. But yes, the cars will be slighly equalized this weekend by the heat and skill will begin to take over, where former race winner and prodigy Gasly and talented but struggling sophomore Colapinto will score.

Night races are back!

No matter what, we should be in for another entertaining race. Although overtaking is difficult on street circuits, they can always be counted on for chaos, spectacular driving, and safety cars. While we may not have the history and beauty of Baku, the night-time shift to modernistic Singapore is always welcome. Get ready for DRS action, heavy tire management, and more in southeast Asia's only race!