PRACTICE DEBRIEF: Can McLaren keep their rivals at bay in Singapore?

Oscar Piastri set the pace during a disrupted second practice hour on Friday in Singapore, but can McLaren lead the way throughout the weekend or is one of their rivals looking likely to pose a challenge?

Oct 03, 2025 6:08pm UTC

F1 Correspondent & PresenterLawrence Barretto

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - OCTOBER 03: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39

It wasn't the smoothest of days for Formula 1's 10 teams in Singapore as a disrupted second practice – which is the only practice session to take place at night and thus the only representative running drivers will get before Qualifying – meant very few long runs were completed, while multiple drivers had to abort their soft-tyre runs because of stoppages or yellow flags. That makes it's very tricky to work out a pecking order - but there are a few trends that emerged....

Mixed fortunes for McLaren as Piastri returns to form

Championship leader Oscar Piastri wasted no time putting his frustrating weekend in Baku behind him (he suffered his first DNF of the year with crashes in both Qualifying and the race) to go top of the pile – and it looks like his McLaren is the one to beat as they search for 13 points this weekend to wrap up the Teams' Championship.