George Russell's championship hopes took a double hit. His Azerbaijan win cut the gap to teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli to 15 points, then his power unit failed in Malaysia. Now he starts from the back in Singapore with a mandatory replacement, while Mercedes tries to understand why their latest upgrade might have made the W17 slower instead of faster — with only one practice session to diagnose it.
Red Bull has slashed McLaren's advantage from 83 points to 18 in three rounds, with 58 available this sprint weekend. Verstappen, winless at Marina Bay across nine starts, arrives on form after taking Sepang and nearly Baku. Indonesian wildfire smoke threatens air quality, and this weekend's sprint is the last before F1 expands the format to 10 races in 2027.
Can Red Bull sustain this charge, or are they just the latest flash challenger?
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