{"id":3486,"date":"2026-10-07T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2026-10-07T11:37:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:37:31","slug":"antonelli-cant-win-the-title-in-singapore-but-he-can-put-one-hand-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/antonelli-cant-win-the-title-in-singapore-but-he-can-put-one-hand-on-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonelli can&#8217;t win the title in Singapore. But he can put one hand on it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kimi Antonelli leads George Russell by <strong>84 points<\/strong> heading into the Singapore GP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Singapore offers a maximum of <strong>33 points<\/strong> because it is a sprint weekend, meaning Antonelli could leave Marina Bay as many as 117 points ahead<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Antonelli cannot become champion in Singapore, but the results could put him in position to secure the title at the United States GP<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kimi Antonelli cannot become Formula 1 world champion at this weekend&#8217;s Singapore GP. But he can leave Marina Bay with one hand firmly on the trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mercedes driver arrives in Singapore with <strong>320 points, 84 more than teammate George Russell<\/strong>, after the championship swung dramatically in his favour at Sepang. Antonelli finished second in Malaysia, while Russell retired from third place with a power-unit failure five laps from the finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Singapore now offers another opportunity to widen that margin considerably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because Marina Bay hosts a sprint weekend, <strong>33 points are available to one driver: eight for winning Saturday&#8217;s sprint and 25 for victory on Sunday<\/strong>. If Antonelli collects the maximum and Russell fails to score, his advantage would increase from 84 to <strong>117 points<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That would not be enough to secure the championship in Singapore. But it could make Austin decisive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Antonelli cannot win the title in Singapore<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are seven rounds remaining in the 2026 season, including Singapore, with three sprint weekends still to be contested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even in the most favourable possible Singapore scenario \u2014 Antonelli scores all 33 points and Russell scores none \u2014 enough points would remain available after Marina Bay for his teammate to mathematically recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is why <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/when-can-kimi-antonelli-win-the-2026-f1-championship-2\/\">Antonelli&#8217;s first opportunity to secure the 2026 F1 championship comes at the United States GP<\/a>, not Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the size of his lead after this weekend determines how realistic that Austin opportunity becomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><th>Singapore outcome<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">Antonelli<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">Russell<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">Gap after Singapore<\/th><\/tr><tr><td>Current standings<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">320<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">236<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\"><strong>84<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Antonelli wins sprint + GP, Russell 0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">353<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">236<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\"><strong>117<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Antonelli wins GP, Russell P2<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">345<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">254<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\"><strong>91<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Antonelli P2, Russell wins GP<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">338<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">261<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\"><strong>77<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Russell perfect weekend, Antonelli 0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">320<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\">269<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-right\" data-align=\"right\"><strong>51<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The table illustrates why Singapore matters even though the championship cannot end there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The gap can range dramatically depending on the weekend:<\/strong> Antonelli could leave with as much as 117 points over Russell in the extreme scenario, while a perfect Russell weekend combined with no score for Antonelli could reduce the margin to 51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-3-1024x576.png\" alt=\"F1 2026, BAHREIN, MAL\u00c1SIA, CORRIDA, MERCEDES, KIMI ANTONELLI, ROSTO, RETRATO\" class=\"wp-image-1020317168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-3-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-3-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-3-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-3-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-3-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-3-150x84.png 150w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-bahrein-malasia-corrida-mercedes-kimi-antonelli-3.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kimi Antonelli (Photo: Pirelli)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Russell&#8217;s engine penalty changes the Singapore equation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is another reason Antonelli has an opportunity to make substantial progress at Marina Bay. Russell arrives already compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Briton&#8217;s power-unit failure at Sepang exhausted his available engine allocation, meaning <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/russell-faces-singapore-grid-penalty-after-sepang-engine-failure\/\">Russell faces a Singapore grid penalty when Mercedes installs another unit<\/a>. The timing could hardly be worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes had originally intended to introduce another engine later in the season, potentially at Austin, where overtaking is considerably easier. The unexpected Sepang failure has forced the team to alter that plan at a street circuit where track position carries particular importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell&#8217;s penalty applies to Sunday&#8217;s Grand Prix rather than Saturday&#8217;s sprint, so he still has an opportunity to score eight points before facing a recovery drive in the main race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Singapore is precisely the type of venue where starting from the back can make limiting championship damage difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell himself acknowledged after Sepang that his title prospects had become \u201cexceptionally unlikely\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli therefore does not need to take unnecessary risks to increase his advantage. <strong>Russell is the driver who urgently needs to reverse the championship&#8217;s momentum.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mercedes also has an upgrade problem to solve<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli&#8217;s championship position is comfortable, but his car enters Singapore with significant uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes expected its major Sepang upgrade to provide approximately 0.3s per lap. Instead, the team struggled throughout the Malaysian weekend and left without knowing whether the package had actually improved the W17. Toto Wolff estimated after qualifying that Mercedes appeared to have gone \u201cfour or five tenths backwards\u201d relative to expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team is now <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/mercedes-considers-reverting-f1-upgrade-after-sepang-setback\/\">considering comparing different W17 specifications during Singapore&#8217;s only practice session<\/a>, although substantial changes to the sidepods and internal cooling architecture make a complete switch between old and new packages complicated. That creates a curious contrast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Antonelli enters Singapore in his strongest championship position of the season while Mercedes arrives with some of its biggest technical questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sprint format only increases the difficulty because teams have a single free-practice session before sprint qualifying on Friday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Verstappen and Ferrari could influence the title fight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The championship battle is not taking place exclusively between the Mercedes drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Max Verstappen finally won his first race of 2026 at Sepang, giving Red Bull Ford Powertrains its breakthrough victory. Ferrari also demonstrated strong underlying performance, with Lewis Hamilton recovering from more than one minute behind to finish third. Neither needs to be directly involved in the title fight to affect it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every Verstappen, Hamilton or Charles Leclerc positioned between Antonelli and Russell changes the number of points available to the Mercedes drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That makes <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/was-verstappens-sepang-win-a-one-off-singapore-will-provide-the-answer\/\">Singapore&#8217;s test of whether Red Bull&#8217;s Sepang breakthrough was genuine<\/a> particularly relevant to the championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Verstappen remains a victory contender and Ferrari maintains its Malaysian pace, Russell could find it considerably harder to recover points even if Antonelli does not win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Antonelli needs to make Austin a title opportunity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no single Singapore result that guarantees Antonelli will become champion in Austin. What matters is the size of his advantage after Marina Bay and how many points remain available after the United States GP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The larger his Singapore lead, the less Antonelli would need from Austin to put the championship mathematically beyond Russell and the other remaining contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <strong>117-point advantage leaving Singapore<\/strong> would represent the most extreme scenario and give Antonelli enormous control over the championship. Even maintaining something close to his current 84-point margin would leave the Italian comfortably positioned entering the final phase of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Conversely, Singapore is one of Russell&#8217;s last realistic opportunities to create a significant swing. That is what gives this weekend its importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli cannot leave Marina Bay as Formula 1 world champion. <strong>He can leave knowing the championship might be only one weekend away.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> follows all the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">Formula 1<\/a> news throughout the Singapore GP weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">F1 today: FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What time is the 2026 Singapore GP?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Singapore GP starts at <strong>20:00 local time on Sunday, October 11<\/strong>. That is <strong>13:00 in the UK, 08:00 ET in the US and Canada and 17:30 in India<\/strong>. Singapore is a sprint weekend, with sprint qualifying on Friday and the sprint on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why does George Russell have a grid penalty in Singapore?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell has exhausted his permitted allocation of four engines after suffering a power-unit failure at Sepang. Mercedes must introduce another unit, triggering a grid penalty for <strong>Sunday&#8217;s Grand Prix<\/strong>. The penalty does not apply to Saturday&#8217;s sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can Kimi Antonelli win the F1 championship in Singapore?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Antonelli leads Russell by <strong>84 points, 320 to 236<\/strong>, but cannot mathematically secure the 2026 title in Singapore. His first opportunity to become world champion comes at the <strong>United States GP in Austin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can Kimi Antonelli win the F1 championship in Singapore?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Antonelli cannot mathematically secure the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers&#8217; Championship at the Singapore GP. His first possible opportunity to clinch the title comes at the United States GP in Austin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kimi Antonelli cannot mathematically secure the 2026 F1 championship at Marina Bay, but a perfect Singapore weekend could increase his advantage from 84 to 117 points and leave him on the brink of the title in Austin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020316979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Andrea Kimi Antonelli","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Alexander Seregin\/ASPPA Images Europe","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":4,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[475,17,314,248],"42wp_author":[4],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-f1-championship","tag-george-russell","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-singapore-gp","42wp_author-evelyn-guimaraes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3487,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions\/3487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020316979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}