2026 SingaporeGP – Max Maxing Saturday!
Max Verstappen sets another record as George Russell crashes and the McLaren duo come together at the rain-hit SingaporeGP Sprint
Formation lap(s) behind the Safety Car? Check. A difficult start for Max? Check. Drivers crashing into each other to instil some excitement in the F1 Sprint? Check. Rain at SingaporeGP? Check.
The F1 Sprint was introduced to grab some more eyeballs in the sport, but as evidenced by today’s action prior to the late chaos, it is safe to say that the FIA has a big task on its hands. The governing body is quite serious, too. In an attempt to improve the racing spectacle F1 was once known for, it has introduced its now-boring Sprint format in Monaco of all places. But let’s not get too carried away with how the future is going to look. Let us enjoy the all-new record set by Max Verstappen on the streets of SingaporeGP earlier today, and how others fared.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit where SingaporeGP is held and Max Verstappen never really got along. Since he started winning in F1, Singapore was the only track he hadn’t been able to tame in the manner he deems fit. That changed today. He was already on a high, fresh off his grand victory in Sepang for the BahrainGP, his first of the season. The SingaporeGP was just kinder to him this time around. With a one-shot pole lap in SQ3 yesterday, he managed to get in front of his ‘good friend’ George Russell, and despite losing the lead to him going into T1 today, Max really did have the last laugh, winning his first Sprint of 2026 at the SingaporeGP. It was a simply lovely sailing for him in the wet conditions, and that meant that he has now won at every circuit he has raced at. However, Max has strongly implied that he doesn’t consider this a victory. Rightly so.
The Silver Arrows once again had a mixed bag of fortune and results. Knowing very well that he would have to start this SingaporeGP from the back of the grid due to additional power unit components, George Russell, who took the lead from Max at the start, couldn’t control his excitement anymore and crashed out of the race at the final corner of the first lap. All his hopes of winning his first World Championship (if at all they ever stood a chance) went along with him. In comparison, Kimi Antonelli, soon to be the youngest ever World Champion this sport has ever seen, managed to make everything work for himself again with a P4 finish, after a disappointing Sprint Quali session for him yesterday.
Love Trumps War, and nobody knows this better than Sir Lewis Hamilton, who is engrossed in his pseudo-relationship with Kim Kardashian, who was, once again, present inside the Scuderia Ferrari garage to support her boyfriend. The impact she has had on him is second to none. And it has only made him a much quicker driver, it seems. He quickly jumped a few places at the start thanks to his illustrious experience, and finished the race in a well-deserved P2, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc, who, by his standards, would have loved to win again. Not too easy when you share the same garage as a certain 7-time (or 8-time) World Champion.
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Rounding up the point finishers were the cool kids in Liam Lawson in P5, Oliver Bearman in P6, and a very young-at-heart Nico Hulkenberg in P7, who were all lucky to have not been included in the action ahead of them; else it would’ve been two or three fewer finishers. Speaking of the action ahead, McLaren F1. No amount of explanation can help me understand what has gone wrong with a team that was once winning just for fun. And ever since Azerbaijan last year, Oscar has lost all his hope and speed. Of course, Zak Brown supporting Lando doesn’t help, either.
From his near race-ending crash in Malaysia last week to going for a gap that did not really exist today, Lando Norris has somehow managed to escape the beating from the FIA far too many times. Piastri was on course for a decent result, but his teammate crashing into him just because he wanted to impress a certain Bollywood royalty who was also present in the McLaren garage was not well-received. It was a similar situation to the Silver Arrows – Lando got a point, but Oscar’s race ended there and then.
That was majorly it from thankfully the last #F1Sprint of the season. This format doesn’t work. Anymore. The drivers know it. The teams know it. The rulemakers know it. The only problem, alongside Lance Stroll not knowing how to drive in these conditions, is that somehow F1 is still able to show the management that they are getting more views and generating more revenue.
Cheers. Drive Safe!
