Singapore Grand Prix: Driver Ratings for Marina Bay Showdown

The 2022 Singapore Grand Prix will go down as one of the season's most demanding races, with George Russell, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen leading the way in difficult, wet-to-dry conditions at Marina Bay. With treacherous track surfaces and a suite of strategic dilemmas from start to finish, drivers faced a serious test of precision and patience.

Why it matters:

In a campaign increasingly defined by Red Bull's dominance, the Marina Bay circuit provided a rare arena where driver skill and tyre management overshadowed raw car performance. The rain-soaked streets punished even the best, and the eventual podium—featuring Sergio Pérez, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz—only told part of the story. Evaluating how the contenders navigated the chaos reveals who truly maximized their machinery.

The details:

• Max Verstappen: Charged from eighth on the grid to eventually finish seventh, but his race was compromised by a poor opening lap and a subsequent error that damaged his front wing. The Dutchman recovered to log the fastest lap, yet the weekend was a rare blot on an otherwise dominant season.
• George Russell: Delivered a stunning lap to secure pole position, out-qualifying teammate Lewis Hamilton by a significant margin. During the race, he maintained strong pace but slipped behind the leading Ferrari and Red Bull strategists, ultimately finishing a distant 14th after a late collision and wing damage.
• Lando Norris: Extracted everything from his McLaren to qualify third and ran strongly in the early stages. While he couldn't match the leading duo's pace in the dry, his error-free drive under pressure underlined his growing consistency against elite competition.
• Lewis Hamilton: Endured a subdued weekend by his standards, struggling for outright pace in qualifying and surviving a race wrought with intermittent rain. He lacked the sharpness seen in his best 2022 outings, finishing behind his teammate in a race largely dictated by circumstances.