After crashing in second practice, George Russell looked set for a disappointing weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix. At a track in which he had not scored a podium at beforehand, and missing out on an agonising win in 2023, he provided a remarkable turnaround.
Trailing younger teammate Kimi Antonelli for much of the weekend, Russell went on to set a pair of lap times, in Q3, which were good enough for pole position.
Then, in the race, he pulled away from Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, who started on the soft tyres, and never ceased control.
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Post-race, speaking to Sky Sports F1, Russell said: “I was struggling on Friday; to be honest I was struggling on Saturday morning, and then even in Q1 I didn’t feel great. But come Q3, I felt really on it.
“The start was mega. Stint one was probably one of the best stints that I’ve done in my career, to pull that sort of ten-second gap to Max [Verstappen] and that’s ultimately what gave us the win.”
On what was the key to the win, Russell added: “It’s all to do with the overheating. There’s a lot of overheating on this circuit, but they re-surfaced some of the corners and for whatever reason, the tyres weren’t overheating as much as anybody expected. I think that was the reason.
“I’ve always been quick here in Singapore, but this place has never been my best friend, usually through mistakes of my own doing.”
And pressed on where he would rank this win among the five to his collection, the Brit said: “Vegas [last year] was a pretty cool one, to be honest. But I would say that this was my most dominant weekend.”
“Made up for two years ago” 😮💨
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 5, 2025
George Russell absolutely dominates in Singapore! 🔥#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/pq6lBkNos6
Russell underlines credentials… yet again
It is obvious that any Mercedes contract extension for George Russell, which has been delayed for longer than most people expected, is going to involve compromise from at least one party. Leading the Silver Arrows, following the departure of Lewis Hamilton at the end of last season, the 27-year-old Brit has been their star man and has scored both of their victories so far this season, but sees his current deal expiring at the end of this season.
Additionally proving critical in their fight for second place in the constructors’ championship, having scored 237 of the team’s 325 points, he is making it very difficult for his team to overlook his quality in the medium and long term.
But it was how he turned his weekend around, at a track that Mercedes were not expected to lead the pack, that will be of most significance to him. Now in each of the last two races, the British driver has battled early-weekend struggles, with illness not helping him in Baku, and has come out of them with 43 points, the same tally as Max Verstappen in that time.
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