2026 SingaporeGP – MAXimizing the weekend
On a circuit where Max Verstappen hasn’t had any wins to show in his storied career, he arrived dominating in Malaysia and maxxed his SingaporeGP weekend with a surprise grandslam
Milestones are celebratory, but if you are Max Verstappen, they seldom mean anything. In his 250th Grand Prix start today, Max won for the 73rd time, moving to second place in the list of most wins with a single manufacturer, only 11 behind Lewis Hamilton. But he would not care one bit. He would be happier to realize that he has finally broken the SingaporeGP curse, and how.
Having started from Pole, just like the Sprint yesterday, he faced similar issues with getting off the line, but because he was so determined and so good on the brakes, Charles Leclerc stood no chance, and Max kept his lead to the end of the race. Seriously, he never let anybody disturb him, and the only thing that went wrong with him was his radio communication with his team. His pace, strategy, and commitment were beyond anybody’s reach. To make it even better, he scored the maximum points available during the weekend and is now only 17 points from P2 in the Championship. Game on? For Max, it never really stopped.
For Scuderia Ferrari’s poster boy, the situation was a bit on the positive side, as Charles secured a P2 at the SingaporeGP, having started from P3. That said, as has been the norm lately, he again did not seem too impressed with the result, as his only aim is to win a Grand Prix for the second time this season. And a World Championship at least once with the Prancing Horse. Kimi Antonelli, who was nowhere in the conversation for a Formula 1 seat when Leclerc made his debut in 2017, will just win the title really soon. Make of that what you will.
Which brings me to Italy’s Boy Wonder. This year, everything does seem to fall in Kimi’s lap, it seems. Of course, most of it is his own hard work, but boy-oh-boy has he been lucky far too many times already this season. In addition, his biggest rival has not been any driver in particular of late; it has been the product of his own wrongdoings and excitement – track limits. He was set to get a 5-second time penalty here at the SingaporeGP, which, while it wouldn’t have mattered in terms of the finishing position, would have scrapped some of his sheer confidence that he brings to the racetrack. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, or else he would have had to be sat glued to a piece of foam, as his Boss implied on the radio.
After yesterday’s shenanigans, both the McLaren drivers were on their good behaviour, having finished in P4 and P5, with Lando ahead of Oscar. Norris could have been on the podium, which would have been his fourth around the streets of Singapore in as many races, but he had other plans. As for the rest of the points scorers, Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg continued their run of solid points in P7 and P8, respectively. Both George Russell and Isack Hadjar, after a terrible Saturday, ended their respective races in P9 and P10, having started from the very back of the grid. This was an especially good result for Russel who started from the back of the grid at the SingaporeGP after taking a penalty for the new PU.
Do Read: 2026 SingaporeGP – Max Maxing Saturday!
Now, now, don’t worry, I surely haven’t forgotten about how Lewis was robbed off of his podium at the SingaporeGP, which we later found out was not, for a change, a team Ferrari call. It has been a year of redemption for Hamilton, despite driving for the Scuderia, that is. When everything goes right, you watch him win, as he did at Barcelona earlier this season. But when it has to go rogue, they find a way or two to screw it up. When the VSC showed up (again, thanks to Lance Stroll), we were all fuming as to why Ferrari would not pit Lewis, who was racing on his old set of tyres, but little did we know that it was the man himself who made the call to stay out. After the race, he accepted his mistake, apologized to the team, and planned to make it right the next time of asking.
That was it from the streets of Marina Bay. The racing was average because you cannot drive closely with this generation of cars, as we have witnessed time and again. It was only made bearable due to Bearman’s overtakes, and obviously, Max breaking his curse. We go racing again in a fortnight’s time to the US at the Circuit of the Americas, where Andrea Kimi Antonelli has his first match point to try and clinch the title and become the sport’s youngest-ever World Champion. Toto and Bono would love the bragging rights. Similarly, before the year ends, we might also witness Red Bull and Max win again, considering their recent resurgence in terms of pure pace. Time will tell how everything unfolds, but one thing is certain: Kimi Antonelli is both a gifted and lucky driver, and he is set to etch his name into the history of Formula 1 sooner than you think.
