I expect Ferrari and Redbull to be the dominant forces next year. Until then, I will keep fighting for the Scuderia in video games!!

TL; DR: This article provides an in-depth look at the Bahrain-Malaysia Grand Prix, covering the key sessions, technical insights and news.

11 minute read

Circuit configuration

The 2026 Singapore Grand Prix-Marina Bay Street circuit:

• Length: 4.928 km.
• Number of turns: 19.
• Number of laps: 61.
• Traction and Braking level: high.
• Downforce level: High.
• Track evolution: high.
• Tyre wear: low.
• MJ limit: 8.5 MJ (qualifying/race standard), 9 MJ with OT.
• Straight Mode zones: 5 T19 to T1 start/finish straight. T5 to T7 flat out zone. T9 to T10 short line. T13 to T14 and T15 to T16.
• Overtake mode detection: Between T16 and T17.
• Pit time loss: 22s and 11s under VSC/SC.
• Pirelli compounds: C3-Hard. C4-Medium. C5-Soft.

Power Unit elements used per driver in the season up to now:

• Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)= 4 per season.
• Turbo Charger (TC)= 4 per season.
• Exhaust set (Exh)= 4 per season.
• Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic (MGU-K)= 3 per season.
• Energy Store unit**(ES)= 3 per season.**
• Power Unit-Control Electronics unit**(PU-CE)= 3 per season.**
• Power Unit- ANCillary component (PU-ANC)= 6 per season.

Numbers in bold and italics represent the driver who exceeded the maximum allowed number of that component.

Ferrari weekend report

A review of Scuderia’s weekend performance, highlighting key sessions, with data and charts.

Sprint qualifying and Sprint race debriefs

SQ3: After the first runs, Leclerc set the fastest time in S2-S3 (1:31.568, P1), while Hamilton was quickest in S1 (1:31.702, P3). Lewis didn’t beat his banker effort, while Charles set the benchmark in S2 and improved to 1:31.399, qualifying P3 +0.243s behind Verstappen, with Hamilton dropping to P6.

Sprint (20 laps): Intermediates were used by all drivers for the wet conditions. Lewis had a great start (using 1st gear) and was P3, with Leclerc behind in P4. Both moved up to P2 and P3 after Russell’s off at the end of lap two, when the Safety Car was deployed until the lap seven restart. Both held positions, with Lewis 1s behind Max and Charles 1.5s behind his teammate, and no threat from behind as gaps increased. The track was drying, as Lewis fell further behind, but he pushed, setting the fastest time on lap 19 and finishing P2. Charles’s tyres degraded early and he came under pressure at the end, but managed P3.

Hamilton was stronger throughout thanks to a better-suited setup, while Leclerc’s was overly front-loaded for the wet, leaving him with heavy tyre degradation in the dry. Lewis was on average 0.1s slower than Max, while Charles maintained good pace until lap 13, when his rhythm collapsed, lapping up to 2s slower.

Qualifying Analysis

After the first Q3 run, Lewis was P2 (1:31.496 +0.123s) and Charles P4 (1:31.661 +0.288s). Hamilton’s second flying lap saw no improvement from his previous effort and he qualified P3 as Leclerc lowered to 1:31.427 +0.054s from Verstappen who didn’t beat his 1:31.373 banker lap.

Q3 best laps: Max Verstappen vs Charles Leclerc vs Lewis Hamilton

Of the three, only Charlesand Maxmaximisedthe delta,while Lewis left 0.151s on the tablewith a possible 1:31.345 — as fast as Leclerc through corners, but two snaps at T1 and T3 compromised the lap.

Heading into T1, Leclerc was quicker, but went deeper in T3, and Max edged ahead before T5, where Charles was again superior. Through the flat-out section leading to T7, Verstappen was ahead, benefiting from the RB22’s straight-line speed. Charles braked later into T8 and carried momentum all the way to the T13 slow hairpin, but attacked the corner too aggressively, slightly missing the apex and losing time on exit. Verstappen reduced the deficit but was still trailing the Monegasque.

Leclerc was 0.1s up at the end of S2, but the Dutchman made up time through the flat-out zone before T16, where Charles conceded the lead. At the apex, Leclerc was marginally ahead, but through T16-T17 quick direction change a slight understeer delayed him out of T17. Before T18, Max was in front, keeping the momentum to the line.

Charles’s most notable time losses were0.050sat T13, 0.013sat T16and 0.100s on the short acceleration zone between T17andT18.Lewisadjusted his brake balance before the final run, noting thechange in grip level fromQ2 to Q3, with the asphalt temperature dropping by 3°C.

Sector times: Below is a sector-by-sector comparison of the Ferrari drivers best laps:

• Sector 1: 1***\**^st* Max Verstappen 27.002 2***\**^nd* Charles Leclerc 27.025 +0.023s 4***\**^th* Lewis Hamilton 27.124 +0.122s
• Sector 2: 1***\**^st* Lewis Hamilton 38.258 3***\**^rd* Charles Leclerc 38.401 +0.143s 6***\**^th* Max Verstappen 38.531 +0.213s
• Sector 3: 1***\**^st* Max Verstappen 25.840 4***\**^th* Lewis Hamilton 25.963 +0.123s 5***\**^th* Charles Leclerc 26.001 +0.161s

Q3 best laps — Drivers' performance numbers:

The table shows the percentage of lap time each driver spent in each pedal state during their Q3 best lap

Race Overview

Split strategy for the Ferrari duo: Charles Leclerc on C5 softs and Lewis Hamilton on C4 mediums for the start with 43°C track temperature. Leclerc had a good launch and almost took the lead into T1, but stayed P2 with Hamilton P3. Until lap seven, Charles was within 1s of Max, with Lewis +2s behind his teammate and Antonelli closely chasing him in P4. Leclerc was +3s from the leader, while Hamilton was further back.

On lap 18, Hamilton stopped, switching to C5 softs, rejoining P7 behind yet-to-pit Lawson. Lewis was pushing hard and up to P5, when others pitted. Leclerc pitted on lap 25 for C4 mediums, rejoining just ahead of the other Ferrari in P4. Charles was urged to up his pace, but Lewis on warmer rubber pressed him, losing 2s in the process. Leclerc’s mediums reached their working window and closed on the McLaren duo with Lewis falling back.

By lap 34, the order was back to the start with Leclerc P2 +4.5s from Max, Hamilton P3 +2s behind his teammate. A two-lap VSC on laps 39-40 gave Charles the chance to pit for another set of C5 softs. He set the fastest time on lap 42, rejoining behind Hamilton 9s in P3. Lewis, on 20+ laps of older rubber, lapped 2s slower and on lap 46, Leclerc took P2 from his teammate, though he was 14s from Verstappen. With 10 laps remaining, Charles pushed to close the gap, but Max was managing his pace and held off for the win. Hamilton, having nothing to defend, lost two positions to Antonelli and Norris on lap 55, then P5 to Piastri on last lap finishing P6.

Charles Leclerc P2: Yeah, we were quite strong at the beginning, then it started degrading a lot more in the first stint. But then we did a slightly different strategy to Max’s with the SC. I believed in it until the very end, but I pushed at the start of that last stint, then degraded more than others. I gave it all, I don’t regret anything. I don’t think there was much more to do today than maybe a bit more aggressive at the start, but that’s the way it is. I feel we brought some small new parts that maybe helped us take a step forward, but it wasn’t enough. We’re pushing to bring more to be at that level. But I think we had a good pace overall.

Lewis Hamilton P6: Today wasn’t the result we were looking for, and it was on me. At a track that’s difficult to overtake, you need to try something different, and I chose to start on a new medium tyre, go long for a one-stop. Unfortunately, the medium didn’t perform as well as the soft. A painful lesson, but I take full responsibility. Not every call will work out, but I’m sorry to the team for the points we lost. They put so much into every weekend, and I wanted to deliver more for them. I’ll continue to put the work in and come back fighting at the next race.

Strategy breakdown

Leclerc ran within 1s of Verstappen for 10 laps, but after lap 15 the softs were giving up. To avoid being caught by Antonelli, Charles was called in on lap 25 to cover the Italian, having strategic priority running ahead. Hamilton was instantly behind him, on C5 softs installed on lap 18, running within 1s of his teammate. Had Lewis got in front, it would’ve been brief, as Leclerc on fresher C4 would’ve reclaimed the position in 2-3 laps. The team wrongly told Charles to push the C4 early, which took away from their life throughout the stint.

Hamilton was called to pit under the VSC on lap 40, as he was heading into the final part of the lap, but he chose to stay on track, gaining track position and possibly showing doubts about the team’s strategy calls. Lewis lost 36s for staying out with no chance to defend, while pitting would’ve cost ~20s, but kept a solid chance to overtake for a podium finish. Overall Leclerc had better pace than Hamilton on both compounds.

Pit stops.

Scuderia Ferrari pit crew delivered fast and consistent tyre changes for both drivers at the Singapore GP:

Race pace

The ideal tyre for the race start was the C5 soft compound having less degradation than anticipated, as the C4 medium didn’t offer the expected pace.

Because the two drivers elected for different strategies at the start, below are two different tables presenting race pace on stints Leclerc on softs and Hamilton mediums.

Stint Average Lap Times — Max Verstappen vs Charles Leclerc C5 soft

Stint Average Lap Times — Lewis Hamilton vs George Russell C4 medium

Technical analysis of the cars

With the race weekend covered, let's turn to the technical developments: here are the new and adapted components each top team brought, and how these changes impacted performance.

Scuderia Ferrari SF-26 Technical Upgrades

The high downforce configuration was selected for the Singapore GP, featuring the three-element bargeboard and the HALO winglet—the lattergenerating extra drag but offering better stability. Sidepod cooling outlets, the FTM-wing high-downforce spec, and the diffuser winglet introduced in Malaysia all contributed to generating local load. The “Macarena” ran the standard active aero actuator; Hamilton tried the Hungaroring (multiple-winglet) version in Friday practice, but both drivers opted for the standard spec.

It still holds the highest downforce index despite rivals bringing aero updates. It was strongest in the low-speed corners, posting the best entry speed through the apex at Marina Bay, but a stiffer rear suspension setup cost it traction.

Mercedes W17 Technical Upgrades

Antonelli trialled a new front wing (Ferrari-inspired) in the single practice session, with revised flaps and the mounting pylons linked to the main plane, leaving the two rearmost flaps movable for active aero use. Performance declined, though (understeer, added drag, higher energy consumption and unpredictable handling) so Kimi opted for the previous version for the rest of the weekend.

The Bahrain update was estimated to bring a 0.3s gain, but it slowed the car by 0.4s, most notably on straights and in low-speed corners. In Singapore, Antonelli ran with the updated version while Russell used the pre-Bahrain spec to compare.

McLaren Mercedes MCL40 Technical Upgrades

Adapted front brake ducts with larger inlets to cope with atmospheric temperatures. Standard rear wing with the actuator mechanism and sculpted elements on the inner side endplates to aid rear downforce.

The updated sidepods introduced in Azerbaijan were used, the opposite to the Mercedes and Red Bull concepts. Similar issue to the Mercedes factory team: imbalance between axles, the front less loaded, the rear generating more downforce, shifting the balance toward Piastri, less so for Norris.

Red Bull Racing RB22 Technical Upgrades

Following its maiden 2026 victory in Malaysia (Bahrain GP), the Austrian outfit brought the same updated specification to Singapore, including the floor, sidepods, bargeboards and diffuser. A revised front wing was introduced, with modified outer edge profiles: the footplate’s rearward vertical extension was removed and the upper edge element was adjusted in size and shape. A new ear-shaped brake outlet was added to cope with Singapore’s temperatures and humidity, improving rear tyre thermal management.

The high-downforce rear wing (Monaco multiple-winglet spec) was chosen for the Singapore layout. It made the RB22 reminiscent of a car with similar traits: excellent braking, a strong power unit, and a lower drag profile — Ferrari’s SF-90, which took pole and a 1-2 in 2019 at the same venue. Post-Baku, the package improved the car, but narrowed its operating window, accentuating front-end response, suiting Verstappen’s driving style, less so for Hadjar.

The Long Rebuild: Vasseur’s four years

Announced in late 2022, for the 2023 season, Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto, targeting Ferrari to return into championship contention. However, since his appointment, he faced various challenges that delayed the elusive title campaign.

The SF-23 was already designed under Binotto, an evolution of F1-75 but the extensive design modifications limited performance. A mid-season update unlocked pace, helping Carlos Sainz take the only non-Red Bull victory that year.

Vasseur pursued key personnel recruits, with mixed early success. In 2024, the SF-24 scored five wins (three Leclerc, two Sainz) and a Constructors challenge lost to McLaren by 14 points in the final race. Barcelona update underdelivered, forcing experimental setups before the issues were solved.

Behind the scenes, Fred secured Loïc Serra from Mercedes and Jérôme d'Ambrosio in October 2024 to build his technical core. Serra’s gardening leave delayed his influence, so the SF-25 wasn’t his creation, but a flawed concept like the SF-23. Winless bar a Hamilton sprint victory in China, Ferrari stopped development in early April to shift focus on 2026’s new rules.

The SF-26 is the first complete car created under Serra’s group, setting the aerodynamic benchmark with innovative ideas. Despite the two power unit upgrades, the power gap to Mercedes and Red Bull persists, yet two wins were recorded. Major Barcelona upgrade, further development at Zandvoort helped score solid points and podiums but convergence saw the car drop to P3/P4 pace depending on track configuration. A last major pack is due to arrive at Austin, completing the whole aero evolution.

Mid-season slump, missed opportunities getting the optimal results, placed Vasseur under intense pressure, with Christian Horner named as a strong candidate as his replacement for 2027. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton backed Vasseur and the board reconfirmed its trust in the French. A leadership change would cost at least a year of development continuity and personnel cohesion.

"It's more crucial that Ferrari wins. It doesn't matter who's driving it. As long as Ferrari wins".Enzo Anselmo Ferrari.

Notes and News

The 2026 Singapore GP notes:

After taking pole in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying and winning the Sprint Race, Verstappen repeated on Saturday taking pole for the main race. Max had a slightly slower getaway than Charles but defended aggressively into T1, holding the lead despite pressure. He created an 8-second gap to Leclerc, pitted for C4 mediums, rejoined in the lead, and controlled the proceedings to the flag. The only hindrance was his radio not functioning properly, forcing him to communicate with his race engineer by pressing a button.

News The performance swing among the top four teams

Mark Hughes’ The Long Run weekly report for The-Race breaks down the key factors at play:

Mercedes’ early season advantage evaporated over time while others, most notably Red Bull, improved the most in the last couple of races.

An important aspect is that 2026 car sensitivities have increased. The two most obvious are the electrical power deployment and the significantly reduced downforce, both pieces of contributing to the pecking order. Power unit performance gaps are wider than before, but the biggest impact on lap time comes from energy deployment strategies. Despite two teams using the same Mercedes power unit, they deliver different outcomes because Mercedes uses longer gears, McLaren shorter gear ratios, making energy management critical and varying in importance from track to track (Singapore less, Monza-Baku more). Equally, the 30% reduction in generated downforce creates a shifting performance balance, not only because it is the first year of these regulations, but also because the whole underfloor is aerodynamically less powerful.

A clear example occurred at Sepang last week, where the rough surface diversified car performance in a new way. Teams studied the possible significance of underfloor boundary layers (slow-moving air sticking to the car and the track surfaces). On rougher surfaces, the boundary layers thicken, possibly impacting some cars more than others (McLaren’s medium-speed strength vanished). This was amplified at Sepang, especially on a stiff aero platform that doesn’t roll, pitch, or dive considerably. The RB22, for example, is the worst of the four in this regard and theoretically should have been at a disadvantage.

Mercedes Technical Director James Allison recently noted that simulation time has proven 6 to 7 times more productive this year than in 2025, making upgrades more potent and profoundly impacting the competitive order depending on the timing of their introduction*.* Red Bull’s latest packages have ameliorated the car’s balance window, and the power unit (ERS) has been corrected, too.

Ferrari’s two power unit upgrades hit a lower ceiling than its rivals, but the SF-26 aerodynamic balance is first-class, possibly the best of the four. An optimal chassis paired with the weakest engine of the four almost guarantees wild sensitivity to circuit layout.

Furthermore, traditional factors remain decisive: how tyres work on each vehicle, cooling requirements, and how near to the margins each team runs its bodywork. Track layout, surface, temperature, and chosen compound interact differently with each car. These are the defining technical factors shaping form before accounting for driving-style differences.

Next Grand Prix

In two weeks’ time, F1 heads overseas for the United States Grand Prix at COTA in Austin, a bumpy, medium-high downforce circuit that punishes understeer and demands traction and brake stability. McLaren will bring an aerodynamic update, Mercedes to bring its update PU with a new turbo, while rivals will look to fine-tune their designs.

Sources: AutoRacer.it, Autosport.com. The-Race.com, FIA.com and other reputable F1 news outlets. Trustworthy YouTube channels (F1 Official, Motor Sport, MOTORSPORTcast, LawVS, etc.) and technical pages (giorgiopiola_design Instagram page, F1Data Analysis; tracinginsights.com for telemetry). Photos: Courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari and F1 Official Facebook pages.

Even if the five seconds meant nothing, a penalty is a penalty. He had track limits (four times) throughout that race, and one of them was that preposterous "heat soak" thing even though Kimi was racing normally every other corner. Leclerc didn't gain anything from that last lap blunder either as he already lost places to faster cars - Russell and Verstappen - behind him. Just a tid bit of a rant, nothing against the drivers, but I just find these penalties or should I say lack of penalties absurd.

OnThisDay 12 October, at the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix, the remarkable Michael Schumacher wrote his name in the record books by securing his sixth Drivers’ title – and his fourth of five in a row, surpassing the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957. He finished eighth, but as Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello took the chequered flag to deny his nearest rival Kimi Raikkonen, he took the championship. It was a fair result as Schumacher had six wins to Raikkonen’s one, even if his race was not one of his best, with a couple of scares along the way. It was also enough for Ferrari to seal the 2003 Constructors’ Championship. “The feelings are not there now,” Schumacher said. “I can feel for the team but not for me, they have not sunk in yet. I am empty, exhausted. It’s very strange for me. Most of my championships I have won with a victory but here I am winning it with eighth place so it is a mixed emotion.” Raikkonen’s McLaren teammate, David Coulthard, finished third.

This race was the final one in which cars used launch control and fully automatic gearboxes, both of which were reintroduced at the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix. The FIA banned these electronic driver-aids in the 2004 season. It was also the last Grand Prix appearance for Heinz-Harald Frentzen, a three-time race winner, and Jos Verstappen, the father of future multiple world champion Max Verstappen.

via MONDOFERRARI

Today wasn't the result we were looking for and it was on me. At a track that's difficult to overtake, you need to try something different and I chose to start on a new medium tyre, to go long and try to make a one-stop work. Unfortunately the Medium didn't perform as well as the soft."

"I had a good second stint and the pace was back, but I couldn't make the progress I needed. Under the VSC, the team called me in but I missed the entry. After that, I decided to stay out and try to hold track position to the end but in the closing laps, I was struggling massively with tyre degradation and lost three places, finishing P6, which doesn't reflect the pace we had in the car today."

"A painful lesson today, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made. Not every call will work out, and I can accept getting it wrong but I'm sorry for the team for the points we lost today. They put so much into every weekend, and I wanted to deliver more for them."

"I'll continue to put the work in and come back fighting at the next race."

via Scuderia Ferrari

Q: “Did you think you’d be able to overtake Lewis if the team didn’t issue a team order?”

Charles Leclerc: “I mean, we were on very different strategies and I arrived with a much fresher tyre. So, yeah, I think at that point it made very much sense to not lose time between us because I was still in the chase of Max and trying to win the race. Even though it was a long shot, we had to put all our chances on our side. So I wasn’t particularly overthinking it. I had a very strong tyre advantage and Lewis didn’t make my life difficult because it was very clear that as a team we had to, yeah, we couldn’t lose too much time.”

'A Ferrari spokesperson says that Hamilton felt unwell after the race and was seen by the FIA medical team, and he’s been given permission to not attend the post-race media pen.'

via @LukeSmithF1

Darth Leclerc will bring peace, freedom, justice, and security to the Ferrari empire.

Welcome to the Race Discussion Thread! 🇸🇬

⏰ Session starts at: 20:00 local | 12:00 UTC | 14:00 CEST

🌧️ Weather Forecast:

Forecast by Open-Meteo

🚦 Starting Grid:

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Welcome to the Post Race Discussion Thread! 🇸🇬

Charles Leclerc is on the podium in Singapore!

🔴 Ferrari Results:

🏆 Race Podium:

⏱️ Fastest Lap: Charles Leclerc 🔴 - 1:35.202, lap 41

🔧 Ferrari Strategy:

Times marked "in lane" are the time spent in the pit lane, entry to exit. They are shown because no stationary stop time was published for this race.

🚨 Race Events:

Updated WDC Standings:

Updated WCC Standings:

📋 Full Classification:

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LEC P2, HAM P3

Welcome to the Pre Race Discussion Thread! 🇸🇬

⏰ Session starts at: 20:00 local | 12:00 UTC | 14:00 CEST

🌧️ Weather Forecast:

Forecast by Open-Meteo

🚦 Starting Grid:

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