All cars will need to run on 100 percent sustainable fuel, meaning all the fuel used in F1 cars will come from renewable sources like municipal waste etc. This fuel will be developed in a bid to make it directly usable in road-going internal combustion engine powered cars, thereby helping make the sport more sustainable and also help in reducing carbon emissions overall. F1 already has confirmations from six manufacturers for the 2026 season – this includes existing names like Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes who will be joined by Honda, Audi and Ford. The overall changes and addition of new manufacturers to the grid is expected to spice things up further for what is the absolute pinnacle of motor racing globally.

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But even as the dust settled on the track, it was announced that Lewis Hamilton had been disqualified from the race, along with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc- who finished sixth in the race, for a technical breach. They were disqualified because of excessive plank wear, which goes against the rules set in Article 3.5.9 e of the 2023 Formula One Technical Regulations. That means Norris is now bumped up to second position, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz promoted to third.

The start of the race was as action-packed as it could get. Norris got a great run from second position to take the lead, Leclerc battling with his teammate Sainz for second position, while Hamilton had a big scruff with Verstappen looking to overtake him at turn one.

Piastri was able to charge up the field to gain a whopping four positions even before the first lap ended! But a contact with Ocon damaged Piastri’s side pod and later resulted in both drivers retiring early from the race.

Hamilton’s Mercedes showed great pace the whole race, with overtakes done on both Ferraris in a span of three laps. Verstappen on the other hand seemed to have his hands full with the car. While he did have good race pace, he also had brake issues which meant he had to be extra careful in his driving. 

Norris was able to keep his lead for nearly half the race, being able to show great pace at the start of each tyre stint, but high degradation meant he could not keep the pace for long. Verstappen was able to overtake him at lap 28 and from then on, Norris was unable to match the Red Bull’s pace.

Further down the order, even though Fernando Alonso started the race from P17, he was able to overtake others to get to tenth position. But all that was short-lived, as he had to retire from the race at lap 51 because of loss of floor performance. This has been a weekend to forget for Aston Martin, salvaged only by Lance Stroll’s P9 which was upgraded to P7 due to the aforementioned disqualifications.

The disqualifications also meant that Alexander Albon got P9, with his Williams teammate Logan Sargeant scoring his maiden point in 10th position, that too on home soil.

The drivers championship seems to be heating up for P2 and P3 as a disqualification for Hamilton sees Sergio Perez extend his lead, and Alonso’s DNF sees Sainz and Norris closer to him than Alonso would like. In less than a week’s time, Formula One will be heading to Mexico for the Mexican Grand Prix scheduled to be held at the  Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

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As the race happened

For the top three it may have been a regular start but behind them there was chaos all around with multiple incidents up and down the field. One of the victims was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who had to make an additional stop to replace his damaged front wing.

Perez’ day didn’t get any better as the Mexican copped a five-second time penalty for a safety car infringement and then copped another five-second time penalty later on for causing a collision with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. The resulting damage forced Perez out of the race, but not without a weird scenario of him being sent back out on track to serve the five-second time penalty instead of letting it carry over as a grid-drop penalty in the next race. 

Meanwhile up front, it was a comfortable finish for Verstappen, Norris, Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in fourth place for Ferrari, while seven-time champion, Lewis Hamilton finishing a close fifth ahead of the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

Oscar Piastri’s podium is the first rookie podium since Lance Stroll’s third place for Williams scored at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. With Perez’ DNF, Verstappen only needs a top five finish at the sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix to secure his third world driver’s championship. The 2023 Formula One Qatar Grand Prix is set to take place between October 06-08. 

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As the race happened

A consecutive pole position for Carlos Sainz was a big advantage on the streets of Marina Bay as the circuit layout is known for making overtakes a difficult affair. Sainz had a trouble-free start and his teammate, Charles Leclerc had an even better one from third position, taking full advantage of the softer compound of tyres to jump the Mercedes of George Russell for second place. For most of the first stint, it was an interesting game of chess at racing speeds as the two Ferraris controlled the pace up front and bunched the pack up to foil any attempts of an undercut strategy.

But it was the safety car caused by Logan Sargeant sending his Williams into the barrier that kicked off the round of pit stops. Amongst the chaos, Leclerc lost out due to traffic in the pitlane and dropped to fifth. Again, Sainz kept up the same strategy of keeping the pack closed up but another twist was in store thanks to the Alpine of Esteban Ocon retiring from the race due to a technical issue, causing a virtual safety car period.

The two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton took a gamble and made an extra pitstop for fresher and softer tyres with 20 laps to go to have a crack at the win. Initially, it looked like the gamble was paying off as both drivers were slicing away two seconds per laps to the leaders. They made quick work of Leclerc and were on the back of Norris in second place and the race leader Sainz with 10 laps to go. However, Sainz played a strategic masterstroke in purposely allowing Norris to be within DRS range to minimise the slipstream effect for the two Mercedes drivers. Nevertheless, it was a close contest till the final lap where a minute error proved costly for Russell as he crashed out of the race in dramatic fashion. When the dust settled, it was Sainz who triumphed, taking a hard-earned second career win ahead of Norris and Hamilton.

As for the Oracle Red Bull Racing squad, it was a good recovery for Verstappen from a shocking 11th on the grid to finish fifth while teammate Sergio Perez finished in eighth position after starting 13th, 

Despite it being an off weekend for Red Bull, it is just a minor delay for them to clinch both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles. In the battle for third in the drivers’ standings however, there’s a further twist in the tale as Hamilton has overtaken the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and sits 10 points clear with seven races to go. Next week will be the Japanese Grand Prix, slated to take place from September 22-24, 2023.

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How the race transpired

Right from the opening lap, chaos ensued as spits of rain meant it was either a gamble to stay out or pit for intermediates and give up track position. Fortunately for those who chose the latter, it was the right call as the rain quickly intensified. Sergio Perez was the biggest gainer in all this as he jumped from sixth to first being the early stopper and held a healthy 13-second lead. However, Verstappen quickly eroded that gap within a couple of laps and looked set to retake the lead.

Fortunately, Verstappen didn’t need to make the pass on track as when the other drivers pitted back on to dry tyres, the championship leader comfortably took back the lead. Meanwhile, Alonso, after a fine start from fifth, was in third place and had begun pressuring Perez for second place. However, that challenge didn’t really materialise and the race was looking to settle down.

But the weather gods were saving their best trick for last, and torrential rain poured down with less than 10 laps to go, getting to the point where many drivers went off track including Perez, which handed Alonso second place. Eventually the weather conditions were too extreme to continue and the red flag had to be called out. After a 45-minute delay, racing got underway again, with Verstappen and Alonso managing to finish in the same order. Perez however, copped a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane, which meant Pierre Gasly inherited the final spot on the podium. 

This win means Verstappen is now tied with ex-Red Bull driver and four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel on the record of nine consecutive wins and is well on course to break it. In the drivers’ standings however, the battle for third place has taken another twist as Alonso’s second place has pulled him 12 points clear of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

Next week, Formula One heads to the temple of speed, Monza and Ferrari’s home turf for the Italian Grand Prix. It is scheduled to run between September 1-3, 2023.

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