The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2026 Singapore GP Sprint Race & Qualifying Review

Episode Date: October 10, 2026

Unpack this action-filled Saturday in Singapore with Ben and Sam, from the sprint race of attrition and McLaren teammate controversy, to the qualifying session that saw a familiar face rise to the top. Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get:Ad-free listeningFull-length bonus episodesPower Rankings after every raceHistorical race reviews& more exclusive extras!Don't forget! You can also gift a Late Braking Patreon subscription—perfect for loved ones or your own wish list. Choose anything from 1 month up to a full year of top-notch F1 content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingf1/gift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Late Braking:You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats!Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠F1 Fantasy League⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us! LEAGUE CODE: C6Y6R4ZUY02Get in touch any time at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. And welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking, reviewing Singapore Saturday, which of course means two sessions with this being a sprint weekend. Very different sessions, I would say, Sam. You know what? When we do get a sprint weekend, this is the kind of thing that I look for. If we're going to have a sprint weekend, they've got to be different hands.

There's got to be some differences between each side of the weekend. Currently, there was, right? We had a very wet kickoff to the start of the sprint race, the small in the UK time, so much so there were bubbles emerging around the racetrack because it was so full of rain. We'll get into whether that should have gone ahead or not. And then, of course, qualifying this afternoon here,

which was a much more dry affair, very dusty around the Singapore Grand Prix racetrack. You can see it when they left the pit lane, just how much dust they were kicking off. So very different environments. That means that some drivers will thrive and some will just be trying to survive and different drivers come out on top, or do they?

Well, that's what we'll get into on today's review. We'll go chronologically, so we'll start in this first half with the sprint that happened, sort of late morning UK time, and then we'll go ahead and review the qualifying session that has just happened as we're recording this review. So, starting with the sprint, didn't kick off at the time that we expected it to, A downpour of rain about 10 minutes before the start of the session

meant that we got going about 30 minutes after we were initially intending to. What do you make of the delayed start, the decision, first of all, to get that in place and then not having any racing until, once again, we were on intermediate tyres with the wet tire not to be seen. Yeah, great. Something that really made me laugh before the rain actually arrived at the broadcast that we were watching was they were talking to Jensen Button, famously very good at being in wet weather conditions. Well, Johnston, you are very good at this.

And someone talked to me saying, oh, Jensen, you've done this before. How do you know if it's going to rain on? What's your tell-tale size? And he's saying, oh, I just, these are my conditions. I sit my finger in the air and I just know. And it's not going to rain. It's not going to rain. And literally within about two minutes, the downpour started. It's just classic. It's Jensen button washed. Is that the title of this episode? He got that wet in the broadcast. Maybe he's now washed because, oh, I'm sure there's a lot of other people keen to see that take place. Anyway, moving on swiftly. I am very frustrated that Formula One continues to be delayed so heavily by weather.

Now, I understand that there might be a safety element involved, and that's okay, fair enough. But we need to start having procedures in place that speed up this process. It's two weekends in a row now where people plan their weekends around things like this sport and whatnot. And if you're a family or you've got some events with friends or you've got to go out and do something, you might have to work. Sport is not the most sictating part of someone's day. So it's got a thing to a schedule. And when it starts at, let's say, 10 a.m. in a certain time zone, and you're not sure if it's actually going to kick off at 10 a.m. in that time zone,

it becomes very frustrating for fans, both new and old, to get behind the sport and actually enjoy it. And once again, we had an undetermined and unsure delay for the weather. And we're not even using the full set of equipment that we've brought to the racetrack to try and speed up the process. We have a wet tire. You might have heard Zach Brown call it the monsoon tire. That's what a lot of the people within the industry call it, because it's mint for. severe rain, aka a monsoon. It's meant to push the water out the way. Do we start earlier on this tyre? No. Has they all seen it? Missing posts is up around the world. Have you seen this tire? No one's seeing it for many, many years now. And it's just why you're bothered trying to pretend

to spectators, to fans, that that's part of what we do here in Formula One. We may as well just be declared a dry weather series, but wet weather can be exciting. We just seem fearful of going out and doing something in it. This might be a controversial opinion, but I'm kind of okay with one aspect of this and very frustrated with another aspect. I was actually okay with the delayed start. Looking at turn two and turn three, I thought that, and I know I'm probably on an island with this, I thought it was too. Standing water, I think was too much. At that corner very specifically, I think the rest of the track was absolutely fine. But looking at some of the pictures and video of that corner, I wasn't convinced we were ready to race on the hour. My frustration, and I guess it's similar

to what you're mentioning is how elongated the process is to start again. So I don't think we were quite ready to start on the hour. I think we were probably ready to start 10 past the hour or quarter past the hour. But the problem is there's such, it's an elongated process where it's metal car goes out. Does this lap to see if everything's okay? Is it okay? Yes. 10 minutes start procedure starts.

And then all of a sudden by the time the car's actually out on track, having done a few formation laps. They all know it's going to be intermediate conditions. And whilst it stayed that way today for the entire sprint, there's frustration that we can't, as a sport that is ironically a very fast sport, we can't make very fast decisions when it comes to weather conditions. I was frustrated about that. Yeah, agreed. And you're right in saying that it is elongated. But with that elongation, there's also a lack of communication of what's going on from the broadcaster and Formula One specifically. You have that medical car go out, and you can't hear any radio from the driver of that medical

car, you don't hear anything back and forth going, what track seems good. We should set time at Corka Park. There's nothing to clearing up for fangs, both at the track and Washington, go, right, I'm aware of what's happening now. I can, suddenly you just get a 30-minute declared, oh, we're going to start a half-past-the-hour or something like that, and it is frustrating. And the other thing that they're maybe less willing to do with a sprint versus a normal Grand Prix, Grip number one with sprints today, by the way, is that because it's only 20 laps long,

you might say in a regular Grand Prix, we'll get them out there under the safety car and just keep circulating and doing these formation laps to the point where they will actually clear some of the Stanley Water themselves and they can go racing. You can't afford to do that as much in a sprint race because you might, you know, a third of the race could be gone by the time you get going. And I don't think anyone wants that. So it is a, yeah, it's not great. I would have taken a third of raise gone to go. You're not wrong. When we did get going, George Russell, the duality of F1 had the perfect start on that opening lap to get the lead away from Max Verstappen and the absolute worst end to the lap imaginable as he went into the wall, his sprint ending very, very early.

What did you make of that opening lap? It looks like the left-hand side of the track, if you're looking down towards turn one, was definitely the better side of the track to have started on. Lewis Hamilton also gets a great start on that left-hand side of the track as well. Russell gets a great launch, able to get in front of Max Verstappen. And I think the pair of them on that front road play it really well. Stappen realized quite early that he'd lost that place, settled into second, not trying to cause any chaos or fight back. It's a long-gramperee.

Even in a sprint sense, when it's that wet and there's a lot of walls around you, it's a long-rampre. You can take your time to try and get that position back. And Russell looks strong on that opening lap. We look really well-managed, well-considered, wasn't making mistakes. The gap to Max is quite comfortable. I thought, you know, the better part of a second

rather than being pressured through every single corner. And then comes the mistake. And whilst it is a tricky mistake, you're the first one round, so therefore you're the first person encountering those conditions and whether something might be difficult or treacherous. You are seasoned enough now to know that when very wet, paint is slippery,

and he's put that tire onto the white line on the outside of the track, accelerating on the output, although he has said in his post-race interview that he had a big of a boost of battery that he wasn't expecting, which is very interesting that he's come out and said that. But nonetheless, the wheel. And I don't think he was deflecting, by the way, when he said that. No, I don't think so.

Yes, he did identify that as a. But it is another negative that goes towards his regulations. Again, if it has played a part in what he's doing and he wasn't necessarily expecting boost elements to kick in at that point, has that cost him a wing? Has that cost him a sprint grall pre-victory? Nonetheless, power on the paint line when it's wet, is slowing straight to the wall. And my goodness, will we love. lucky not to see a T-bone collision straight across the start, finish straight. We've seen far worse

previously in similar circumstances. That could have been absolutely horrific. Especially tough for him knowing that progress back into the points or at least some very good points tomorrow is going to be tough with him starting from the back of the grid. So this was a real opportunity to at least have 50% of the race weekend go his way. And that start was brilliant to get that lead. I think my biggest issue with this, and it goes back to your point of exploration, almost when you, You are the lead car. You have the advantage of you're not going to have spray in your face. But at the same time, you do have the opportunity, you do have the difficulty, you do have the

difficulty in you're the first guy to get to each corner. You're the one who's having to work out how much can I give it here. The frustrating thing is he'd done that for every single corner. On the second lap, each corner he'd have already done once at racing speed. So he'd have some form of reference, meaning that that sort of an incident was, far less likely to happen from lap two onwards. It's at the very last corner where he doesn't yet have a reference point

and boost or no boost. He knew straight away that that was an error that you can't afford to make when you're in the lead of a Grand Prix. Funny enough, I think we've seen an inkling very similarly at that point before where someone maybe vessel has managed to keep it just out of the wall and carry on

by spinning the car background. And he is unfortunate in the fact that because it is where that rear tyres has come straight off the car and he is out of that Grand Prix, Russell will be gusses, because whilst the championship is obviously getting more and more difficult to attain,

and I think he's relaxing that sense. You may have seen if you're watching that he was telling Oliver, but to back off out the garage and he was a rather comical way, and he was on Kimmy's Radio, for example, being like, hi, I'm going to be racing here. But by the way, kind of weird

with the title rival. That's a very strange headspace for someone like us who's watched Formula One for so long, seeing two title, I say rivals, they are quite far away in the points tally. to be so joking, jovial with each other. That's a strange headspace to be in.

If it works for him, it does. But he could have taking a victory here, and it's gone off at the last moment. Well, should I say the first moment, I suppose, which would be really disappointing for him. So Vastappan goes on to take a relatively comfortable victory. It was the two Ferraris kind of chasing him for the most part. I feel like we kind of saw inconsistency from Ferrari throughout this spread.

In the early on, it looked fairly good for Lewis Hamilton, at least threatening Max Verstappen, and then he drops off the back. Charles Lecler, I don't think, starts particularly well and then kind of gets into the race around lap 10, maybe the middle of the Grand Prix. And then by the end of the sprint, Hamilton again is starting to catch Max Verstappen,

and Lecler is having to defend from two McLaren's and Antonelli behind him. Yeah, I think not to blow smoke up his backside. I think that was all intentional by Lewis Hamilton. Starts well, attempts to chase down early on, of course, when he realizes he, he's going second place and Max is first. The tyres are wearing, the track is drying,

they're going to go off very quickly, and Lewis Hamilton's an old dog at this game now, right? He's done it enough times. He's very much experiencing what to do here. Overtaking in Singapore is very, very difficult. So he backs off, tries to call those tyres. And with that, of course, the Claire suddenly starts to see a bigger of a, oh, my teammates a bit closer than he was.

I'm getting a push. And I think with that has just destroyed his tyres. And you see the way that both McLaren's and the Mercedes of Antingelli rapidly come towards Charlerc. He's unable to, I think, give it another lap or two. He might have been in big trouble holding off those places and may be very fortunate that Landon Norris Casascus Seng, one up the inside on turn 5 and take the both out anyway,

because I think he was really looking like he was in trouble. So I think that was tactical from Lewis. I don't think his pace because suddenly fell off a cliff and then he found it again. I think McClure suddenly went, oh, I can see my teammate, I'm going to push, and then burnt that rubber out far faster than expected. Yep, Lecler must have been very worried

that his podium was under threat from the two McLaren's behind, but on that final lap, contact between the two McLaren's. Quite a lot of discourse on this one, and I'm interested to hear your view. Who was at fault? Oscar Piastri on Lando Norris? It's tricky, definitely tricky to call. I don't think it is 100% either side. The door was left open by Oscar Pastery, but with the context of the situation involved,

I have to put the blame on Mando Norris. I just think that you're sending it on your teammate on the last lap while your teammate is also trying to attack the car in front for a podium position. This is just a bit silly. This just hasn't been thought through. And whilst he has managed to get the car fair enough alongside at the apex, that is through essentially not breaking anyone near as much as needed. And I would have been quite intrigued to see if you can make the corner properly at the trajectory and speed that he was going to if Piastri wasn't there. He tags the back one of his teammate as the way the corner opens up, swings in both round and Piastri's out of the spring. Naga recovers for

in eighth place. He isn't penalised later on for it. I feel like they should have been a penalty for that. I think five seconds, Worry would have been fair. But yeah, I put this on Lando. This is why context is so important with these overtakes, because if that is Abu Dhabi, and it's the last lap of a Grand Prix

and both are fighting for a world championship, and Lando Norris doesn't send it up the inside of Oscar Piaastri, I would be asking, why on earth didn't you? But in this particular instance, I'm asking, why on earth did you? There was just no point in this. We are talking about a point here,

and a point there. Obviously from McLarence Constructors' Championship, nothing would have changed if they switch positions. Lando Norris would have gained one point in what we know is not going to be a driver's championship winning year from him or his teammate. I just think in a sprint where you've got qualifying in a couple of hours' time, you are really risking the possibility of not going qualifying for a race in which you can attain 25 points of everything goes perfectly well. And you're and you're bickering a over a point or two. I don't mind that it was called a racing incident by the stewards.

I personally put this more on Lando Norris. There was a gap there, but he has had to go very late on the brakes in order to, in order to make this move work. In which case, I don't think they were. I don't think a Norris was alongside Oscar Piastri just before the breaking zone. And I think Piastri had every right to take whatever line into the corner that he wanted to. So I do put this more on Lando Norris. Just with that, I think Lando Norris is handing himself.

quite poorly outside of the race environment when being interviewed around this. He is an example to others. He is an influential figure. He's a lot of young fans. And when you are asked about a mistake that you've made, whether you agree that it's a mistake or not, just having a little bit of of a polite tone when speaking to other professionals in the industry, I think goes a long way. And I think it shows a bit of humbleness and humility that maybe some people see things differently. And I didn't like the approach that Lando's taken in a couple of interviews we've seen afterwards. The irony here being, of course, that Lando Norris has probably taken. an unnecessary risk, because when it comes to the sprint as a whole, everyone else was pretty

understandably not taking risks. And I'm talking about the race as a whole here, rather than one specific driver or one specific team. It was rubbish. And it's to the surprise of no one that it was. I don't think when we saw the news that Singapore was going to host the sprint, we were like, God, that's got the potential to be a classic, that one. I don't think anyone was saying that, including us. But goodness me, if this was a main Grand Prix with the conditions the way they were, because there was a lot of talk about will anyone try slicks? No one was going to try slicks. Because even though I personally think the conditions weren't quite there for it yet, it might have been worth the risk for someone if there were actually a substantial number of laps

and there was more to fight for. If you're one of the midfield teams, like, I don't know who's in that spot, maybe Gasly or Ocon or Alonzo, and you were thinking, should we go to dries. Honestly, like, burning up a set of soft tires wasn't worth it. The potential for going off in those really tricky conditions, as they still were late on in that Grand Prix, wouldn't have been worth it. So there's just, there's no point of trying any of this,

in which case, there's no strategy, there's no, there's no guts from any, there's no need for any guts from any of these teams, and we just get a procession. Yeah, tactically it doesn't make sense. When the pit lane losses 22 seconds, give or take. And what we were talking about this, from about eight, seven or eight laps from the end of the sprint race,

you're going to have to be doing at least two seconds a lap, three seconds a lap fast in the cars in front of you. And that's just to catch back up to the pack in front of you. That's what even to make an overtake or get past where you might have been before you stopped. So this is the frustration here that if we were to have this weather on the main Grand Prix, or even in qualifying as it dries throughout qualifying session, at least it has a genuine risk versus reward. But when it comes to the sprint race, the risk is so high and the reward is so low, it just negates any kind of entertainment for us because we know that the answer has already been made.

Yeah. Quickfire questions with a couple of incidents. So Bortoletto, Albin and Bottas all came together before the restart. Bottas and Bortoletto out on the spot, Albin out a little bit later on. How did you view that? It felt very clumsy, a classic clung to see. We've got how big of I hit you, you hit me. scenario for a little while.

I can't put the blame on Bortoletto, I don't think. You look at the view of front of him, it's all very backed up. There's a lot of spray going on here. It feels like Albin goes a little bit too deep, but then Bottas follows him straight in as well, and that's why they collect each other. So tough, but I'm going to put it a little bit more on Albin than I am on any one else. Yeah, the way I saw it, Album makes contact with Bortoletto, which then causes Botas to make contact with the back of Albin, in which case I think this is Alex Albin's fault.

Again, it's one of those where none of those three drivers would have been expecting points in a sprint. So I doubt it's really impacted anything. But yeah, just a bit clumsy. We did actually see Holkenberg and Gassley go wheel to wheel into term one with Holcomburg getting the move. Gisley felt that he was unfairly pushed off. Would you agree with that? Yeah, I don't think he's making that corner anyway. I think it was too late on the brakes for Pierre Gassi,

which means that he was already running slightly wide. I think he picked up a track limit, warning for that move anyway. So it sounds like the stewards agree with that. Holkenberg, I think, was comfortably alongside at that point. Actually, I thought it was a really good racing move. There was some really good battling. Gassley, I think, with Limbalan, I think it was. Hang on really good bit of wheel to a action.

Maybe it was loss, I might be forgetting. But there was some really good battling with that driver, and it was great to see around a track like Singapore. Hulk did really well to get that move done. I thought there were some good moves on the track that is really difficult to get a move done. Hulk executing it well. This is my problem with the racing rules as they are right now, because I'm with you in that I'm not certain Gassley was making that corner anyway.

But if Halkenberg leaves the space for him and then he doesn't make the corner, it's so easy to say he had the space, he didn't make the corner, it's very fair that he's been overtaken here. Instead, Hulkenberg does go all the way up to the end of the track. Gassley doesn't have space to prove one way or the other whether he can make the corner. And Gassley, therefore, I think, has a very good case to say, I was pushed off and that's not fair. I just, it's another case of the side-by-side racing,

not being as good as it could be if the rules were different. I hate these rules. I hate that. The way they come up in commentary discussion, this whole, were you, was your apex, or your axle alongside a wing mirror, whatever. I hate it. It's so over-angleys.

It takes out the enjoyment of an overtake. It's far too many words for something that should just be, common sense, it feels like. Yeah. Anyway, driver of that session. We'll do a driver of qualifying as well later on. But who was driver of the sprint? I thought Lawson had a really good sprint.

And I feel like it's between him and Max for stopping for me. I think I'm Max. He pulled out a really good lead over Hamilton comfortably big, even at the end it started to come down. It looked like it always hung in the bag. But I think Lawson's in with a shout here. Well, we've only got about six to choose from, as that's how many finish this sprint.

But yeah, I think they might be the main two. Hamilton's start was electric as well, by the way. Yeah, actually, you know what? I'll put Hamilton in there as well. But I'll go with Stapp and the way he managed that race. Sure, he was very much helped out by what happened with George Russell, but still had a job to do from there. Well, let's take a quick break.

On the other side, we'll get into everything that happened in qualifying. Welcome back, everyone. That's the sprint done and dusted. Let's get on to qualifying for the main Grand Prix tomorrow. something of a similar picture out front as Max Verstappen has managed to claim pole position, albeit a fairly close margin back to both of the Ferrari, Charles LeCler, half a tenth away,

Lewis Hamilton, just over a tenth away. Let's start with Max Verstappen, because he wasn't the fastest driver in Q1, that was Lewis Hamilton. He wasn't the fastest driver in Q2, I believe that was Lewis Hamilton as well, but he ends up fastest thanks to his first run in Q3. Yeah.

had some problems in the car did Max throughout the sessions. He's downshifts for causing him problems. And that's not the first time we've heard that from Max in this Red Bull this season. It seems like the shifting of the gears is causing that car some real instability. And you can hear it on board that it's not as smooth as you'd like to being a Formula One car. For comparison, we went on board with Kimmy Antingelli halfway through the qualifying. And whilst he wasn't the quickest of the session, the smoothness out of the corners that Antenelli had as he was going up through the gears. It almost felt like he was in an automatic.

It was changing for him at this perfect. scenario, just so nice and smooth. And Verstappan is kind of juggling a bit of a difficult side of things. But he brings it all together at the right moment. And that's what to say, well done, that's Max Verstappen. He's a four-time world champion, whatever. This is a place where he's never been on that top step before in qualifying. And now he's done it twice in one weekend.

And it was a really strong lap right at the end. I think qualifying was anticlimactic. I wanted there to be a fight right at the end. It's a clock tick down to zero. And it felt like it was essentially all wrapped up and dug on the first set of laps, which is a real shame. but overall fantastic from Max Verstappen, to his 50th career poll. I believe he becomes the fifth driver

to reach that mark and go over it. Yes. Obvious statement incoming. This guy's so good. Vestappen is so good. This is a day I think where Vastappen's quality has made the difference

over the rest of the field. I didn't think typical. I didn't think it'd quite be on pole position going into Q3. Even though I'd seen it in SQ3, it looked like Red Bull were just a touch behind. And I said to myself going into Q3, Vestappen is going to need to perfect all three sectors in order to get this poll.

He's going to need to be purple in the first sector, purple in the third sector, and he's going to have to do enough of a damage minimization job in the middle sector in order to get this. And he nailed every single one of them. He doesn't improve on the second run. ultimately doesn't need to. But that first run was absolutely perfect from him.

On a day, again, where I didn't think that Red Bull quite had the pace of the Ferrari, and he's managed to beat them both by putting together all of his best sectors. You know how, like, when I'm watching Qualifying, I'm very close in on the sectors. And I just didn't think he'd quite have it. Proves me wrong. He was sensational. Yeah, I think it's a story of two sides. I think Bostappan pulls it all together right at the death,

and it's something that only the Kremlin's. Geller Krem, the very best could do in Max Verstappen displays once again why he is considered the very best or one of the best of all time at this point in many people's conversations. And on the other side of the story, you've got maybe the greatest of all time in Lewis Hamilton who built himself up and built himself up and looked sensational for the first two-thirds and isn't on the front row of the grid, which he will be devastating about.

You can tell him this post-qualifying interview that he was quite frustrated in himself, because it was down to himself that it didn't come together. and to be beaten by his teammate, who he was faster than for the entirety of qualifying, he'll be gutted that he's not on that front row. Yeah, he will be incredibly frustrated because he, as well as Vestappen, looked brilliant. He looked absolutely locked in through those first two parts of qualifying, and then he just couldn't quite hook the lap together, maybe similar to yesterday as well. He just couldn't quite get it all together.

So first run, the first sector wasn't very good. second run, final sector wasn't very good. If you put all of his best sector times together, he's not only quicker than his teammate, he would have got pole position. So he was, his pace, it's sort of a positive and a negative all rolled into one because his pace was brilliant

and actually based on what we saw in terms of his race pace in the sprint, it bodes very well for the Grand Prix, and I am absolutely not counting out that he could go on to win this thing. But there was a poll for the take in there. He was electric in the second sector. Oh, yeah.

He was my as clear. Incredible. Incredible. I mean, the Ferrari obviously works well in that second sector because I think Lecler was also very good there. But he was incredible. No, because Hamilton was. No, Hamilton was, I think about a tenth and a half clear

for most of qualifying. And Lecler did a very good job of putting it together right at the desk because he did feel slower, comfortably slower than Lewis Hamilton, up until that final lap. When it mattered, that is the one that matters. Now, it's up to Ferrari to do something clever in the Grand Prix because they have got a two versus one situation, two Ferraris, one Red Bull.

We know that overtaking is really hard here. So will they split the strategy? Will we see a hamilton on the mediums, the clear on the soft? Will we see them pitting at different times, hoping for a safety car maybe? They need to do something. They've got to play the game here because they've got the pace in the car to win this race. But overtaking is very difficult. You've got such an advantage to get past.

And it's Maxfussappen. It's hard to get past him anyway, let alone in Singapore. So they're going to have to do something a little different with strategy. Moving on to Mercedes. And let's say this with some hesitation, but I think, what I'm saying, I believe. I think this is the first qualifying session this year where going into the last run of Q3

or even going to Q3 as a whole, I didn't think they had any chance of poll. I said this in the Discord chat. I said this is the first time all season that Mercedes were not good enough to get poll. I thought they were the least likely out of the top four teams to pick up pole position. Yeah, I didn't think it was...

I thought Norris was going to win there first. I thought the staff were obviously both Ferraris. there's a real chance that Antingelli will be a lap from the gods to have even challenged that front row of the grid. The car just doesn't seem to want to do what it wants to do whether it's the upgraded version that Antingelli's running, whether it's the Baku spec

that Russell's running. It doesn't matter what you want to do with that car. It hasn't got the capability of getting to the top step around here it seems. Yeah, I actually think P4 and less than two temps away for Antonelli is actually a pretty good job based on what he did in spring qualifying versus his teammate.

And I know with George Russell, it was maybe tougher to judge because Russell's motivation was never going to be fully there because he knows he's going to the back of the grid anyway. But yeah, to turn around what was quite a deficit to his teammate yesterday to be nearly two temps clear of him today and he's still two temps away from the front of the grid with Max Verstappen, I still think he did a pretty good job. And that's good enough for fourth. And when you're the championship leader by what 81 points or whatever it is, that's all you need

to do. Just keep plugging away in the points and you'll be. just fine. I felt McLaren maybe in a similar way to Ferrari, couldn't quite string it together. There were times where both drivers looked very good in the middle sector. Norris at times in the early parts of qualifying

looked quite good. He was third after Q1, for example. Just didn't quite, again, I didn't think they quite hooked together a lap at the end. I just don't think the car's there for this track. It doesn't seem to suit it well. They don't seem to have the oomph down the straits that the Red Ball seems to have with their power unit.

And that is where Bostappan is finding that extra tiny bigger time is in the first and third sector. We have got a lot more straight line speed. McLaren unable to really maximise that. And then through that middle sector, unlike Ferrari, their shatter doesn't seem to be almost purpose built to perfect that sector, which is where they could have gained the time back. And they're just in the middle ground, maybe like Mercedes is on this weekend. They're just stuck in the middle somewhere. They're not doing any one thing perfectly well, which gives them an edge over the others.

And while their drivers are fantastic, they are slap bang together. again on that third row of the grid. And they spent the whole first lap, I think, right next to each other in the spring. So it might be a case that the same thing happens in the main Grand Prix tomorrow. Yeah, because of course, Norris qualifies P5, Piastri, P7. But as soon as Russell's penalty takes effect,

they will, as you say, be together on that third row of the grid. Yeah, I thought, because Norris didn't get a good lap in at the end of qualifying. And I felt that might have, similar to yesterday, opened the door for Piastri to out-qualify him again. And it looked like he was going to until the final sector in Piastri, I don't know what happened there. You went so wide on the exit of the final two corners.

Just lost it. I think understeer took hold and, yeah, couldn't get the time over the line. Now, if I refer to my notes, yesterday in sprint qualifying, the nearest midfield car to Vestappen, who got pole, was Liam Lawson,

who was just under 1.2 seconds away. Gassley's done better than that here in his eighth place today, only eight and a half tenths behind. I think that was a very solid effort from him. Yeah, a car that doesn't look good. around here either. And he's struggled historically around Singapore as well. It's not going into Q3, I think, for the last two

or three years at least. Paul's an absolute bell to have a lap out of the bag. To be under a second away from that Red Bull time is really special for a midfield team. And I hate that actually the gap between the front and the midfield is so large at the moment. But this is really good from Gasly. And he's

redeemed himself from missing the lap at the end of SQ3 yesterday. So fair play. Hopefully he can put up a good fight with Lawson, who's in there again. And we'll see who comes out on top. Yeah, because I think the Alpine's pace and the sprint looked better than maybe what the finishing position was because he just missed out on points as a result of Norris not being penalised for that incident.

But yeah, we know he got stuck a bit behind Esteban Ocon in the sprint as a result of that Holkenberg side-by-side moment and he did eventually get by on that final lap, but that really held him back in terms of race time. So, yeah, I think Ghazdi has potential to do a pretty good job tomorrow. And the racing balls, they're there again. Like, if we think about racing balls as an Alpine as a bit of a battle, and I say a bit of because racing balls have really pulled away from Alpine recently. They've got two cars in the fight and Alpine don't.

Yeah, I want to shout out Limbaugh, actually, for that, because obviously this is his first time here. And we've heard that he was almost told to treat the SQ sessions as practice sessions. And he went out in SQ one. It really limited his running time. He had a pretty solid sprint race whilst got Perth. He was able to keep himself out of trouble and worked up through the field. And now today, he's ending up in Q3.

And whilst he's been beaten by his teammate, but I think he's like a really, really solid session to be competitive and to show that he's a quick learner and is able to really deliver it on one of the most, if not the most difficult racetrack that we have across the whole season. I want to call out two drivers and not in a good way. And as I say this, I realize I am calling out South America. Good.

Bortoletto and Colopinto. I think they both really struggled and have struggled, I think. To be fair to call up into, like, he was close to Ghazley in sprint qualifying, but the gap was a lot bigger here. And Bortoletto just has not seemed comfortable whatsoever versus his teammate this weekend. Yeah, I agree. We've got a roster of drivers who are in their first or second appearance here in Singapore, and most of them are really struggling.

We didn't shag him out in the sprint racing, and we haven't shag him out so far in qualifying. But I thought Olly Behrman was having a big of a stormer of a weekend in that house. Obviously, the really one in the spring session has, whilst not set the world on fire with qualifying, is comfortably outqualified. Oco, which I thought was strong. And the fact that he's beating several cars that are fast down that horse, fantastic.

But you're right, it looks like experience is outshining a lot of the younger, more inexperienced drivers here. And when Libby's been able to overcome a lot of that and really learn quickly, Colopinto, Bortoletto, comfortably behind their more senior teammates. Two specific things I wanted to hit from Q1. Firstly, very unfortunate for Isakadha, of course, not able to set a lap time

and he will start from very close to the back of the grid. We think that Russell, we know that Russell was going to take a penalty. We think Alonzo will as well. So it might end up being 20th, but he's got a long way to go through no fault of his own, given he didn't even finish the sprint either. It's been a tough one for him.

It's a really rubbish weekend for him. It's probably because I may have put him in my fantasy suit for the first time. and please lots of overtakes is like some are over points. There's a chance. There's a chance. The Red Bull is quicking a straight line. And whilst overtaking is hard in Singapore,

it's not impossible. Being quicking a straight line will be what allows you to get past in those few braking zones that end those straight line sections. So I think he can probably work his way to points. I think it'll be a lot of points. And I think Red Bull, which I usually are, will need to be right on it when it comes to strategy calls. Because if there is a safety car that benefits him,

he's got to be straight in. He's got to be really on it to maximize that. So watch out for Hajar. He might try something very different. We might run really long, maybe play the safety car advantage. Yeah, I think that is correct. The other thing I wanted to mention from Q1 is Fernando Alonzo because it was revealed, I think throughout either Q2 or Q3 that when Alonzo was in the media pen, he was essentially confirming that he would go to the back, it'd go for a pit lane start in order to get a new engine in the car. I didn't know if you'd heard or see. this, but it's not something that came over the coverage earlier in the sprint, but Alonzo didn't have a good one. He was fair and better than his teammate did, of course, in that he was

still in the race, but he was really struggling pace-wise versus the drivers in front. And he says over Team Radio, look, let's just change the engine. If we get on it now, we can get it done before qualifying. They don't do that. He obviously takes part in qualifying, doesn't get out of Q1, and they're going to do it now. It seems like Alonzo was trying to get this to happen earlier than it will happen. It's interesting, isn't it? I mean, you're in that Aston Martin, you're powered by Honda. You don't really have a lot to lose right now.

So if you're going to be risky, experimental in your changes, this is the right time to do it for a team. When you haven't got much to lose, really, if they put that engine in, suddenly they're able to jump four or five places and they got it done before qualifying, it might show that he's got the car to do something different about it, and that would be fantastic, but he's going to start right at the very back.

He's going to start behind two of the fastest cars on the race track as well, behind Russell and Hager. Just follow him through, follow them through. Hopefully he can follow them through. My bold prediction is that Aston Martin will score twice across the weekend. Obviously, that now means they've got to get a double point score in the race tomorrow. Looking forward to that after Mark Stroll's crash with Perez. So I think this is going to be really tough to see them really progressing further than maybe 15, 16.

So I'm already chilled on my deck chair and I've already got my bowl prediction wrong. I don't need to worry about tomorrow. Lucky you. I should start doing things for qualifying and move on in my life. Yeah. No one will crash in practice. Move on. Yeah, exactly. A driver of the session for qualifying. Oh, I hate to be

really dull and give it to the same person that I just gave it to. But Max Verstappen's qualifying lab was sensational. Really, really brilliant. And he pulled it together when he needed to in a car that maybe wasn't performing a track that he has struggled on, which is a rarity. So I will give it to him. But

I thought Gassi was strong. I thought Lawson was great. Limblog for that development was really, really good as well. Lots of good names up and down the grid. But yeah, for Stappen. Short answer for Stappen, obvious reason why. But I'm actually going to throw in another name that I seriously considered that isn't going to get a lot of attention here.

I think Carlos Seines has done very well. It's not the first time in the last few races where I think he's done very well in a qualifying session. Beating an Audi and an Alpine there. Well, exactly, yeah. And to be honest, if he'd beat an Ockon as well, I probably would have given it to him, because I'm not convinced that that Williams is much better than the second worst team this weekend.

And he's put half a second on Alex Albin in Q1 as well. Albin's having a bad weekend, man. He's having a really poor weekend. Obviously, signs were struggling a lot thanks to the deployment, I don't know, deployment issue. He might have been the biggest victim of the man-made deployment problem that we saw. Let's call it that, yeah. But now, you know, everything's even again

and he's managed to put half a second on his team, mate. So pretty impressive. Well, I think that is going to do it for our Saturday review of both of those sessions. Still got one more to go, though, Sam. And that is tomorrow for the main Grand Prix. Yep, folks, do whatever you need to do. Go out there, put a sausage in the ground, dance around it, chance of the skies.

I don't care what it is, but let's pray for a little bit of rain at some point throughout that two hours. But not too much. But not too much because we're going to be here for four days otherwise. So, yeah, just like a sprinkle. Just like someone with a watering can going out there at a few calls would be ideal. Thank you very much. Just, please, three bags full, sir.

We will see you, though, for the review. After the race tomorrow, whenever that might end, who knows, where it might be. But we will be here Sunday evening, UK time. So make sure you come and check out your favourite Formula One podcast, wherever you get your podcast, because we like spending our Sunday evenings with you. Join the Patreon if you want a little bit more,

because we have power rankings that comes out on the Monday evening. We go through every single driver's performance. You get to have a say as well. out of form straight after the race, fill it in, put your rankings in, you get to decide what driver you're backing the most as well for the session. And we love hearing from our listeners. So do get involved and it massively helps out the show. We can reinvest that into the show. And it's really, really beneficial. So thank you to everyone that does. And finally, Discord, if you want to hear yourself on the show, on the main show, on Sunday, we do our

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