Red-bull

Charles Leclerc tops a remarkably tight Friday in Mexico City, Hamilton loses a potential P2 to a power unit failure, Verstappen owns every straight but bleeds time in the slow corners, and the long runs suggest that track position will matter far more than pace.

Max Verstappen controls the Singapore Grand Prix from the first corner, Ferrari have the pace on the soft tyre but not on the medium, and Lewis Hamilton spends 44 laps on softs after a Virtual Safety Car pit call that nobody heard on the radio.

Max Verstappen takes pole at Marina Bay after completing far fewer laps than his rivals, beating Leclerc by 0.054s and Hamilton by 0.123s. Hamilton topped Q1 and Q2 but did not improve in Q3, leaving a pole-worthy ideal lap unrealised. Ferrari are quickest through the corners but lose heavily on the straights, while Mercedes' upgrades still look difficult to set up.

Max Verstappen wins a damp Singapore sprint with the fastest and most consistent pace of the field, while Lewis Hamilton delivers a superb launch and a measured drive to finish second. Russell crashes at the final corner, Leclerc destroys his tyres by overloading the front axle, and both McLarens spin on the last lap just hours before qualifying.

Max Verstappen takes sprint pole at Marina Bay despite a troubled FP1, beating Russell by 0.120s in a session marred by data transmission problems and a human error that disabled overtake mode during Q1. Ferrari lose out to a clear power deficit, Hamilton overdrives the soft tyre, and Mercedes' new upgrade package, tested on Antonelli only, looks to be going in the wrong direction.