Singapore Grand Prix: one of the most gruelling for drivers due to the high heat, high humidity (up to 90%), and the race’s long duration. In 2025 the test was as tough as ever: 62 laps where discipline beats bravado. Under the floodlights the circuit crackled with energy: Drums, air horns, and cheers rolled in waves as the grid formed and the cars prepared to launch.

George Russell set the tone from pole and never let the race breathe. His pace was tidy rather than flashy: clean exits, no wasted steering, smart through traffic. He won by just over five seconds. Behind him, Max Verstappen defended firmly while Lando Norris chased within DRS for long stretches, but the order at the front did not crack: Russell, Verstappen, Norris.

Lap 1 provided the main flashpoint. Norris tapped Verstappen’s rear and then rubbed wheels with Oscar Piastri to secure track position. It looked messy, but both McLarens survived: Norris in P3 and Piastri in P4. Their combined points later sealed the Constructors’ title for McLaren - the concourses turned bright orange within minutes.

This was a race of inches, not chaos. All 20 cars finished - a rarity for a street track. The one obvious mistake in the pack came when Nico Hülkenberg looped it at Turn 7 while dicing with Franco Colapinto: a brief yellow, then back to green. Strategy was all about patience. Undercuts only worked if the out-lap was perfect and the rejoin clean; otherwise you simply burned tyres for nothing. Russell’s side did not blink.

Two late notes shaped the classification and the mood. Rookie Kimi Antonelli pulled off a neat pass on Charles Leclerc for P5 - loud cheers for that one. Lewis Hamilton then took a five-second track-limits penalty after the flag, dropping him to P8 and lifting Fernando Alonso to P7.

When the chequered flag fell, fireworks lit the bay and the grandstands surged again. The post-race concert took over, bass lines carrying across the water while fans in orange and silver sang along and filmed the show. It felt like Singapore’s signature: precision on track, celebration off it.

Final card: 1) Russell (Mercedes), 2) Verstappen (Red Bull), 3) Norris (McLaren), 4) Piastri (McLaren), 5) Antonelli (Mercedes), 6) Leclerc (Ferrari), 7) Alonso (Aston Martin), 8) Hamilton (Ferrari, after penalty). Precision won the night: exactly the kind of race Singapore invented.

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Wessen Char is UPPF’s petrolhead who still mourns the loss of Saab (and drove her 9-5 NG till 2025). She travels between US and Europe to cover auto events. She acknowledges the chic tech of EVs but wonders if the inexorable move to everything digital is ultimately all-better. Analogue had more soul somehow :)

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