2026 Singapore GP Data Recap: Strategy and Telemetry Breakdown
Max Verstappen had a near-perfect weekend at Marina Bay. He took both pole positions, won the rain-affected Sprint, and turned Sunday’s pole into his first-ever Singapore Grand Prix win, which was also his second win in a row, on his 250th Grand Prix start. He beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 7.3 seconds, and the Singapore GP 2026 results behind him came down to tyre calls and one costly strategy gamble.
Tyre Performance: The Medium vs. Soft Battle
As we flagged in our Singapore GP track guide, the Sprint format left teams with very little long-run data. The race showed the Medium was the harder tyre to manage. In the post-race press conference, Verstappen said “the Medium tyre for everyone was a bit more of a struggle”, while Leclerc said “the Medium just didn’t feel like a great tyre.”
Verstappen started on Softs and made a single stop on lap 33 for Mediums, which held up long enough to keep him in control at the front. Leclerc went for two stops. He pitted onto Mediums around lap 25, then used the second Virtual Safety Car to take fresh Softs, which secured second place.
Hamilton’s Costly One-Stop
Lewis Hamilton started third on Mediums, unlike Verstappen and Leclerc, and was the first of the leading three to stop, switching to Softs on lap 19. Ferrari called him in again under the second VSC, but he missed the pit entry and chose to stay out to the end.
As his Softs aged over the final stint, Hamilton had no answer to the cars behind him and fell from third to sixth in the closing laps. “Sorry boys. I let you down today with that strategy. My call, and I lost us valuable points,” he said on team radio.
Critical Overtakes in the Closing Laps
Passing at Marina Bay is hard, but tyre offsets opened the door in the final ten laps. Hamilton cut the chicane while fighting Lando Norris, and Kimi Antonelli used the moment to pass Norris for fourth. A lap later, Antonelli went past Hamilton into Turn 16 on fresher tyres to take the final podium spot.
Norris then cleared Hamilton for fourth. Oscar Piastri, who had made an extra stop on lap 42 for a slow puncture, also passed the Ferrari into Turn 16 to take fifth.
Further back, there were two strong recovery drives. George Russell dropped to 19th on the grid after an engine penalty and climbed to ninth for two points. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar started from the pit lane after new power unit elements were fitted and finished tenth.
The Championship Math
With Russell compromised by his penalty, Antonelli’s podium extended his lead from 84 to 102 points:
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 340 points
- George Russell (Mercedes): 238 points
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 229 points
Antonelli can now win the 2026 title at the United States Grand Prix in Austin if he outscores Russell by 23 points there. Our title math breakdown covers every scenario, and you can follow the gap on our Championship Standings hub.
To compare how the Soft and Medium stints played out lap by lap, load the race data into our Interactive Telemetry Viewer.