Singapore Sprint delayed by torrential rain, a week after Sepang's soaked start
A downpour minutes before the start has left standing water at Turns 2 and 3 and the Singapore Sprint on hold. It's the second rain delay in two race weekends.
The first ever Singapore Sprint has been delayed by rain. A torrential downpour hit Marina Bay just 10 minutes before the 5pm start, and teams rushed to put gazebos over the cars on the grid.
The FIA confirmed the delay, citing “a large amount of standing water around turns 2 and 3”. No new start time has been given yet.
Sepang all over again?
It’s the second rain delay in two race weekends. Six days ago at Sepang, heavy rain and a software problem held up the start for 93 minutes, and some cars crawled to a stop on the formation lap. We explained what went wrong in our piece on F1’s software problem.
The FIA has since fixed the wet-weather settings that caused the trouble, so this weekend is the first real test of whether that fix works.
What’s at stake
Max Verstappen starts from pole, with George Russell alongside him. For Russell, the Sprint matters more than usual: he starts Sunday’s Grand Prix from the back after an engine penalty, so this is his best chance to cut into Kimi Antonelli’s 84-point lead.
Singapore rain is nothing new. Alex Albon arrives in a downpour at the 2025 race. Photo: Wan Mikhail Roslan/ZUMA Press
A wet race could shake that up. Antonelli starts seventh, and rain tends to reward drivers willing to take risks.
Update: the Sprint started 30 minutes late. Max Verstappen won a chaotic, wet race in which eight cars failed to finish, including George Russell from the lead. Read our full Sprint report.
