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!