Most of the remaining races offer 25 points to the winner. Singapore offers 33, because the Sprint pays 8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 to the top eight on Saturday before the Grand Prix on Sunday. That makes the maximum possible swing between two drivers in one weekend 33 points, if one takes everything and the other scores nothing.

That’s why it could be championship-breaking. If Antonelli wins both races and Russell has a poor weekend, the lead could climb as high as 117 points, putting a title in Austin or Mexico City firmly in play. If Russell does the double, the gap could shrink faster than at any race since the summer. Either way, Singapore will shape the final six rounds.

Singapore runs on local time (SGT, UTC+8) but on a “European” schedule, which is why the main race starts at 8 p.m. under the floodlights. These are the official F1 session times:

Other time zones for the Grand Prix: 05:00 US Pacific, 14:00 Central Europe (CEST) and 23:00 Australian Eastern (AEDT), all on Sunday 11 October.

How to watch

In the US, every session is on Apple TV, F1’s American broadcaster from 2026. In the UK, it’s live on Sky Sports F1, with NOW passes for non-subscribers. In most other countries, F1 TV Pro or your local rights holder shows every session. Our guide to where to watch Formula 1 has the full list. If the Sprint format is new to you, our qualifying explainer covers how grid positions are decided.

Russell’s win in Baku cut the lead from 81 points to 66. A week later at Sepang, Max Verstappen won, Antonelli was second and Russell retired from third with a suspected power unit failure, so the gap went straight back out to 84:

What Singapore can do to the gap

These are the possible swings in Singapore, whatever the gap is going in:

Starting from the 84-point gap: a perfect Antonelli weekend would push the lead to 117. A perfect Russell weekend would cut it to 51. So Singapore could leave the championship anywhere between nearly settled and still open.

The Mexico City target matters too. The earliest Antonelli can clinch is Austin (25 October), where he needs to leave more than 125 points clear, a gain of at least 42 over Singapore and Austin. Mexico City (1 November) is more realistic: he needs to leave Mexico more than 100 points clear, a gain of just 17 over three weekends. Our latest analysis of whether Russell can still catch Antonelli covers what Russell would need. Our analysis of how Antonelli can clinch the title has every scenario.

The case for Russell

Russell won the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix from pole position, so he knows how to put a lap together around Marina Bay and how to manage a two-hour night race. He had been in form, too: he won Baku from pole, holding off Max Verstappen by 0.196 seconds, and was on course for a podium at Sepang before his car failed. He now has nothing to lose, which can make a driver dangerous on a street circuit.

The case for Antonelli

Antonelli has eight wins this season to Russell’s three, and his last two weekends show how he’s managing the lead: fifth from 16th on the grid in Baku, then a quiet second at Sepang. That’s exactly what a championship leader needs: damage limitation without risk. He has the same Mercedes, a big lead and the freedom to race for consistent points rather than all-or-nothing wins. In a Sprint weekend, consistency across two races is worth a lot.

The threats

Mercedes won’t have it all its own way. Verstappen won at Sepang from pole, his first win of 2026, and Lewis Hamilton was third from 18th on the grid. Mercedes also struggled with tyre wear in the Malaysian heat, and Singapore is just as hot. Singapore’s walls also punish any mistake, and a non-score for either Mercedes driver would change the picture. For the full comparison, see our Antonelli vs Russell analysis.

The Marina Bay Street Circuit is a 4.9 km, 19-corner street track that has hosted F1 since 2008, when it staged the sport’s first night race. The Grand Prix runs over 62 laps, and it’s one of the most physically demanding races of the year: high heat and humidity, a long race time close to the two-hour limit, and walls all the way round.

What decides the race

Qualifying: overtaking is difficult, so grid position matters enormously, and Russell’s 2025 win from pole shows how valuable it is. Safety cars: Singapore has a long history of safety cars, which can turn strategy upside down; our guide to how safety cars work explains why. Driver fitness: cockpit temperatures are among the highest of the season, so concentration late in the race matters. Tyres and strategy: the right call on the undercut or overcut can decide positions you can’t win on track.

Recent Singapore GP winners

Sprint result: Verstappen wins, Russell crashes on lap one

Singapore’s first Sprint started about half an hour late after a downpour left standing water at Turns 2 and 3. After a Safety Car start and formation laps, the field took a standing start on intermediates. Russell got past polesitter Verstappen into Turn 1, but at the final corner of the opening lap he slid into the concrete wall, and Verstappen took the lead back. He pulled away after a Safety Car restart and won by 2.591 seconds from Lewis Hamilton.

It was chaotic behind the leaders. Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll collided at Turn 16, ending Stroll’s race; Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto stopped early; and contact at the restart put out Gabriel Bortoleto, Valtteri Bottas and, later, Alex Albon. The McLarens collided too: Norris attacked Oscar Piastri into Turn 5, tagged him and spun him around. Piastri finished 14th, a lap down, and Norris eighth. “I also know that I want to win tomorrow, not today,” Verstappen said afterwards.

Championship standings after the Sprint

Sunday’s grid: Verstappen on pole, Russell penalised

Verstappen added Grand Prix pole in the evening, with a 1:31.373, just 0.054s faster than Leclerc. Hamilton was third and Antonelli fourth, after having one fast lap deleted for track limits. Russell qualified sixth but takes a grid drop for changing his engine, so he’ll start further back; the final grid will be confirmed before the race. Hadjar was last after another reliability failure.

We’ll add the Grand Prix result here on Sunday 11 October. The race starts at 20:00 local time (13:00 UK, 18:00 Bangladesh).