🏁 So Long, Honey Badger

🥇Max Verstappen [331]: Says P2 was a “good achievement” based on how the weekend started. He reflected on his former teammate’s [Ricciardo] career as well: “He will for sure be remembered as a very fast driver, I think everyone knows that, but also as a great guy in the paddock.” He also agreed to get Danny Ric a nice Christmas present if he ends up winning the championship by 1 point, after the Aussie driver stole the fastest lap from Lando. Wouldn’t that be something…

🥈Lando Norris [279]: While “flying” the whole race, says he still had “too many close calls.” There were two significant near misses when he almost put the car in the wall with a huge lead. Ifs and buts, candies and nuts. The title fight is still on!

🥉Charles Leclerc [245]: Takes blame for quali mistake that saw his Q3 lap deleted, and has “mixed feelings” after climbing back to finish P5 in the GP. “I will bounce back next weekend - I mean next race weekend, because now we’ve got a bit of a break.” Ugh don’t remind me Charles…

4️⃣ Oscar Piastri [237]: Securing a podium after being out-qualified by Mercedes was a “great result.” Cheeky Oscar struck again by tweeting: “Without swearing, that was blinking warm. Good race, nice podium.”

5️⃣ Carlos Sainz [190]: On his bizarre Q3 crash during an out lap that left him to start the race in P10, he blamed “Cold tires or a big snap.”

6️⃣ Lewis Hamilton [174]: Sees the team’s brief run on top slipping away: “We have lost some form to the leaders in the past few races and we’re working hard to figure out why that is.”

7️⃣ George Russell [155]: “Our pace in qualifying however made us believe we could achieve more. Today was no doubt a difficult race for us, both challenging in terms of our pace but also physically.” Also you gotta check out this picture of George here. I’ve never seen him look so sinister.

8️⃣ Sergio Perez [144]: Q2 exit and P10 finish was a “complete disaster. Once we were on a similar tire age behind Nico it was… that was pretty much it.” Also, I forgot to switch him out of my fantasy lineup. I bet he’d be upset about that too if he knew.

9️⃣ Fernando Alonso [62]: Says street circuits “cannot hide lack of performance” and looks for the team to find performance as they continue to lose ground to the top teams. He did take a positive though, saying “Eighth is better than we expected coming here to Singapore.”

🔟Nico Hulkenberg 📈 [24]: On his defensive drive to take P9 ahead of Perez: “I don’t care if it’s a Red Bull,” but added that it was “stressful” keeping him at bay during the whole second stint.

11. Lance Stroll 📉 [24]: After his fourth Q1 exit this season, said he “struggled a lot with balance and grip.”

12. Yuki Tsunoda [22]: Radio of the day award winner: Race Engineer: “Perez and Colapinto are fighting. There could be something coming to us, let’s be on it.” Yuki: “Too much information.” 😆 

13. Alex Albon [12]: Wasn’t happy with Franco’s “divebomb” into turn 1 at the time, but had this to say after the race: “The move was on, it was just a bit of a shame that everyone was going into the corner and then everyone hesitated to turn left and had to let Franco past. Obviously I was on the other side of it, so it happens.”

14. Daniel Ricciardo [12]: 💘 

15. Pierre Gasly [8]: Shares a blunt assessment: “We are not quick or competitive” after team fails to score points in third straight race.

16. Ollie Bearman [7]: How he’s “just getting started” and the challenges he sees ahead in F1 in Beyond the Grid podcast interview.

17. Kevin Magnussen [6]: On his late DNF after brushing the wall: “Sometimes you hit a rough spot and it cuts the tire.” Well he did say he was going to f*** s*** up… we just didn’t know it would be his own tires.

18. Esteban Ocon [5]: Ocon demonstrating that to an F1 driver, everything looks like a steering wheel - even at the dentist’s office.

19. Franco Colapinto [4]: Will Buxton called his turn 1 overtake of four cars “magic.” The rookie himself said “I did the best start I could. There was a pretty nice gap and I went for it and it worked out.” Ya got a lotta moxie, kid.

20. Zhou Guanyu [0]: Was pleased with his race pace: “From my side I think it was very strong pace compared to how we are with one-lap pace…I’ve always been stronger in the race this year than the quali just because I’m struggling finding the comfort zone in that car at the moment.”

21. Logan Sargeant [0]: Will have an IndyCar test with Meyer Shank Racing in November.

22. Valtteri Bottas [0]: Looking to get his future sorted: “That’s obviously high on my priority list because it’s starting to feel almost like Christmas time, you know it’s getting close so better get it sorted.” C’mon now Fall just started! Don’t gimme this Christmas stuff already. I just got done fighting off the cozy crazies who push for Fall too early, I can’t take on another battle with the Christmas Kooks.

Constructor’s Corner

🥇McLaren [516]: Poached Red Bull’s Chief Strategist Will Courtena, who will join the papaya people as Sporting Director, once his gardening leave is up in mid-2026.

🥈Red Bull [475]: TP Christian Horner taking the positives: “On Friday night, I think if you’d have said we’ll qualify on the front row and take second place, a significant amount ahead of the rest of the field, we’d have certainly taken that. We’ve now got the best part of a month to work hard and try and bring some performance to the car in Austin.” It’s a good result considering how dreadful the car looked in practice. Prediction: Red Bull returns to Red Bull form in Austin. I think Max wins.

🥉Ferrari [441]: TP Vasseur was happy with the race recovery after a dismal qualifying. “The big emotion is it is always good to finish the weekend on a positive, and if you weigh up the race, it’s sure you increase a little bit the frustration from Saturday but I’d rather have the frustration from a poor qualifying and a good race than a poor race, so it is okay it was like this.”

4️⃣ Mercedes [329]: Some good insight from Toto Wolff: “I think we’ve read the race wrong…We took a decision based on historic [data] that this race was basically a procession, Monaco-like and that the soft tire would give [Hamilton] an opportunity at the start, basically the only overtaking opportunity. But with the rear tire deg we had, there was only one way and that was backwards. But it doesn’t hide away from the fact that when the car is slow, you’re just slow.”

5️⃣ Aston Martin [86]: Alonso says the team must improve before Newey arrives, and step up next year.

6️⃣ VCARB [34]: TP Mekies on Daniel: “He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the Team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit… Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track and never without that smile.” See, everyone loves the smile…

7️⃣ Haas [31]: Guenther Steiner lands first blow in legal battle vs Haas, who allege he improperly used trademarked photos in his book. What’s the opposite of amicable divorce?

8️⃣ Williams [16]: TP Vowles says Colapinto will be set up as a test and simulation driver for the team if he does not immediately land a seat.

9️⃣ Alpine [13]: Bruno Famin confirms Renault will continue to produce engines for it’s World Endurance Championship cars despite the F1 team looking to move on in 2026.

🔟Kick Sauber [0]: Bottas rumored to be the leading contender for the remaining 2025 seat.

• Problem Solved? Mark Hughes and Giorgio Piola explore if Ferrari’s flexi-front wing solution a la McLaren and Mercedes have fixed their mid-season struggles.

• McLaren Concessions: In an attempt to get ahead of a potential review, the papayas offered to adjust their mini-DRS rear wing design ahead of the Singapore GP. Lando certainly didn’t need it.

• Red Bull’s Tweak: After some rough practices, they decided to maximize aero grip at the expense of the previous mechanical set up - playing into the cars strengths rather than trying to allow it to attack kerbs like McLaren.

• Lizard Laps: The honorary Singapore mascot made an appearance last weekend, putting up some purple sectors under the lights.

• Life in the Pitlane: Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas (you’ve definitely seen him on the broadcast, tall dude with dreadlocks) is releasing a memoir in February 2025 about life behind the scenes in F1. Def picking this up. Reading is fundamental.

• Madrid Needs Money: The planned 2026 GP in Spain’s capital has failed to attract private investors. Head of economy, innovation, and finance on the city’s council Engracia Hidalgo said “It has been confirmed that there are no qualified partners capable of meeting the strict requirements.”

Quick Question (Answer)

They should have put him in the Red Bull seat! See what he can do up there! Am I biased? Maybe.