Another Formula One engine issue struck in Singapore on Friday, less than a week after the Malaysia incident, raising questions about the sport's integrity. The FIA admitted several cars were "disadvantaged" by a problem during the first part of qualifying for Saturday's Sprint race at the Marina Bay Circuit.
Overtake Mode, the gimmick that replaced DRS with this new ruleset, was not activated again after Sergio Perez crashed and briefly brought the session to a halt. Someone noticed that and turned it back on, only for it to be switched back off again 27 seconds later. In a sport with such fine margins, though, that was more than enough time for some to enjoy the extra boost of battery power while others who didn’t happen to be on a timed lap couldn’t.
FIA Admits Human Error
The FIA said this was a "human error" but didn’t explain why, knowing it was unfair on some teams, they decided to just press on with the rest of Sprint qualifying yesterday. At least in Malaysia nobody had their race ruined by the problem that occurred.
As Carlos Sainz, one of those 'disadvantaged' drivers, put it on Friday: "For whatever reason, the FIA didn’t decide, like in Malaysia, to do sporting equity. I'm a bit confused why the sport keeps doing different things based on who is out in Q1."
Mercedes Developing Their Way into Trouble
It turns out the biggest threat to Mercedes’ title charge is themselves. It was all going swimmingly for the Silver Arrows until their Malaysia 'upgrade' which has actually made their car horrible to drive. Kimi Antonelli said as much after a terrible day in Singapore on Friday while George Russell, using the older spec, was five grid positions and more than half-a-second better off in Sprint qualifying.
Other than their unreliable engines, it's mostly been plain sailing for Mercedes up to now. So, apart from those new power units, which are one their way for the United States Grand Prix later this month, maybe their best route to the title is by doing nothing at all on the development front.
Inside Track
Aston Martin's 2025 accounts showed Lance Stroll was paid $12million (just over £9m) in 2025 – a hell of a salary for someone with 101 career Q1 exits in qualifying and zero points so far this year. Nice work, if you can get it.
