Singapore GP talking points: Can Max Verstappen pressure McLaren?

McLaren will be looking to put their awful weekend in Azerbaijan behind them as F1 returns following a two-week break with the Singapore Grand Prix.

Can Max Verstappen force McLaren mistakes?

Following impressive back-to-back victories in Italy and Azerbaijan, the biggest question leaving Baku was whether Max Verstappen is back in this year’s title race.

Verstappen appeared to have already ruled out his chances of retaining his crown earlier this summer amid a run of inconsistent form and McLaren dominance, but Red Bull’s recent revival has reopened an unlikely conversation.

The Dutchman’s dominant win in Baku saw him close the gap to championship leader Oscar Piastri - who crashed out - to 69 points with seven rounds still remaining.

With 199 points on the table across the final seven grands prix and three sprint races, it is absolutely still possible that Verstappen could win a fifth consecutive world championship, but it would require a seismic, effectively flawless-run from his side, while he would also need McLaren’s drivers to run into trouble.

The only factor Verstappen can control is his own performance, and from that perspective, he can be relied upon to deliver. However, as phenomenal as Verstappen is, this feels like a bridge too far in reality. All he can do is keep applying the pressure in the hope McLaren and their drivers crack.

Verstappen has never won in Singapore before and it has been something of a bogey circuit for Red Bull in recent years. If Verstappen can pull off a surprise third straight victory, alongside some drama for the McLarens, the debate will only get louder.

How will Oscar Piastri (and Lando Norris) respond?

McLaren endured their worst weekend of the season in Baku as Piastri suffered an out-of-character meltdown that culminated in a self-inflicted retirement, while Lando Norris could only finish a disappointing seventh.

How Piastri responds to this setback will be crucial for the outcome of this year’s world championship. The Australian needs to make sure it was nothing more than a rare blip, and bounce back with the kind of serene performance we have grown accustomed to seeing from him.

The pressure and spotlight will be on Piastri as he looks to prove his mettle. Like Baku, Singapore throws up another unique and brutal street circuit with little margin for error. There is potential jeopardy everywhere you look. In many ways, this is the last place Piastri will have wanted to come after his nightmare in Azerbaijan.

It feels like Piastri is heading into a make-or-break test for his title hopes, while Norris has some momentum on his side, having held a pace advantage over his teammate at recent events.

After their torrid showing in Baku, McLaren are expected to return to form in Singapore, a place where Norris has good memories having dominated last year’s grand prix as he took an emphatic victory ahead of Verstappen.

With just 25 points separating Piastri and Norris, it promises to be a fascinating and tense weekend.

A crowning moment for McLaren?

Staying on the Papaya theme, McLaren will have their second attempt at clinching a historic constructors’ championship this weekend in Singapore.

McLaren are on course to retaining their crown, which would mark the 10th time they have won the constructors’ world title.

McLaren boast a huge 333-point lead over Mercedes, who overtook Ferrari in the battle for second place in Azerbaijan. In simple terms, all they need is to score just 13 points to be crowned world champions.

Such a feat would secure the championship with six races to spare and equal the record set by Red Bull in 2023.

Considering McLaren have racked up 12 wins and seven one-two finishes across the first 17 rounds of 2025, it feels almost inevitable that they will be celebrating another championship triumph come Sunday night.

Will Ferrari get on top of problems?

A botched late Ferrari team order call in Azerbaijan saw Lewis Hamilton fail to let teammate Charles Leclerc past on the final lap of the race.

With Leclerc on older hard tyres compared to Hamilton on faster mediums, the Monegasque allowed the seven-time world champion through to try and fight the cars ahead.

When Hamilton was unable to overtake, Ferrari instructed him to hand the position back to Leclerc, but despite slowing on the main start-finish straight, Hamilton failed to do so by less than half a second. This appeared to be caused by slow communication from the Ferrari team and a misjudgement from Hamilton.

Leclerc was initially frustrated as he questioned Hamilton’s actions over team radio, though he later downplayed the failed swap, insisting he was not bothered as it was only for a lowly P8 and P9 on another dreadfully underwhelming weekend for Ferrari. Hamilton admitted it was his mistake and that he would apologise to Leclerc.

Ferrari will be keen to ensure the incident does not spill over into further tension but the bigger cause for concern is outright performance and poor execution, which is letting the Italian team down.

Both Hamilton and Leclerc have great records in Singapore, though Hamilton comes into the weekend off the back of personal heartbreak after his beloved dog Roscoe passed away on Sunday evening. 

Can Yuki Tsunoda keep progressing?

Yuki Tsunoda’s upturn in form continued in Azerbaijan, where the Japanese racer made something of a breakthrough inspired by changes he made in the simulator before the weekend.

Tsunoda secured both his best qualifying and race result since joining Red Bull by finishing sixth in Baku. Arguably, more importantly, Tsunoda appears to have rediscovered some confidence he had lost.

The slight downer to Tsunoda’s personal progress in Baku was that Verstappen, in the same car, dominated the race, and he was also beaten by Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls. Nevertheless, it was an important step in the right direction.

Tsunoda is fighting to retain his place within Red Bull’s family but he knows he needs to produce these kinds of performances much more consistently over the remaining races. One good weekend is simply not enough.

Singapore will provide Tsunoda with a real test to see whether Baku was a one-off, or an encouraging sign of better things to come.