Raceday Recap: Singapore, Austin, and the World Constructors’ Champions
This Formula 1 season has been a wild ride so far, and the excitement isn’t over yet! As the season is wrapping up, it’s still anyone’s Driver’s Championship (well, if your name is Norris, Piastri, Verstappen or Russell). With 5 races left in the F1 season, let’s debrief the Singapore and Austin Grands Prix and the effects they had on the current championship battles.
Round 18 took the F1 show to the Marina Bay Circuit, where George Russell came out on top after the qualifying session with a Q3 lap time of 1:29.158. Max Verstappen followed close behind Russell’s lap to join him on the front row, and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri clinched the 3rd place starting spot on the grid. Russell was able to take back the lead on lap 28 and maintain it for the remainder of the race, and stood triumphantly on the top step of the podium for his second win of the season. Verstappen also held his position to finish in second place, with a McLaren upset as Lando Norris claimed the third place spot over his teammate Oscar Piastri, who fell behind after Norris overtook him on the first lap. Norris had a damaged front wing endplate due to a slight collision during the overtake, but that didn’t stop him from continuing the race. One McLaren driver on the podium was still enough, however, to establish McLaren’s victory in the Constructors’ Championship - the WCC has now gone papaya for two years in a row! Additionally, this win marks the team’s first back-to-back Constructors’ Championships since claiming four in a row between 1988 and 1991. The current runner up is Ferrari, with less than half of McLaren’s current 713 championship points, and Mercedes is only 1 point behind the team from Maranello. I think it’s safe to say that this year’s WCC has shaped up to be an entertaining one, whether you are a McLaren fan or not!
Your 2025 Constructors’ Champions - congratulations Lando and Oscar! Photo courtesy of McLaren.
After Singapore, it was time for the North American double header, beginning with Round 19 at the famous Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Verstappen was the quickest in Saturday’s qualifying with a Q3 lap time of 1:32.510. Lando Norris was less than three tenths of a second behind, a result strong enough to earn him a spot alongside Verstappen on the front row. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc also had a successful qualifying with a time six thousandths behind Norris’ - talk about a close shave! Funnily enough, this top three in qualifying turned out to also be the podium after Sunday’s race. Leclerc had a stronger start than Norris and took the outside line to get around him in Turn 1, and was able to fend off Norris’ offensive maneuvers until lap 21 when the McLaren took back P2. Norris took the place back for a few seconds several times during lap 51, and ultimately took the place back permanently as he shot around turn 12. After the race at COTA, the gap between championship leader Piastri and 3rd place runner Verstappen was only 40 points, as Verstappen has slowly whittled down the original 104 points deficit. It’s crazy to think that the Flying Dutchman could still win the Driver’s Championship - we’ll just have to see how things shake out in Mexico and beyond.
Congratulations to McLaren for an impressive season, and I am excited to see how the Driver’s Championship pans out as well. As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this racing season as much as I have!
Lights out and away we go,
Lucy xx
