Nico Hülkenberg finished seventh in the Singapore Sprint to earn two points for Audi, then qualified 11th for Sunday’s Grand Prix. George Russell’s power unit penalty moves him into 10th on the grid, giving Audi a starting position inside the points-paying places at Marina Bay. Gabriel Bortoleto endured a more difficult Saturday, retiring from the Sprint after contact from Alex Albon before qualifying 15th.
Hülkenberg worked his way into contention during the Sprint with a forceful pass on Pierre Gasly for ninth. He then kept pressure on Oliver Bearman ahead for much of the remaining distance, before an incident involving the two McLarens on the final lap promoted him to seventh. Bortoleto’s race ended after the Safety Car restart, when the field bunched up in the final sector and Albon struck his Audi from behind. Although the damage was relatively minor, it was enough to prevent him from continuing.
In Grand Prix qualifying, Hülkenberg recorded a 1:32.784 in Q2 but narrowly missed advancing to the final session. Audi tried setup changes and extracted a competitive lap, though the car lacked the final increment of pace needed for Q3. Bortoleto finished the session with a 1:33.658 after struggling with grip and making a mistake on his final attempt that sent him straight on at Turn 14. Beyond that error, Audi identified a performance difference between the two cars throughout the lap that it had not seen earlier in the season and planned to investigate overnight.
Both drivers gain one starting position because of Russell’s 40-place penalty for additional power unit components. Mercedes was forced to bring forward the replacement following his engine failure in Malaysia, putting him beyond the permitted allocation. The penalty applies to the Grand Prix rather than the Sprint, leaving Hülkenberg 10th and Bortoleto 14th on Sunday’s published starting grid.
Hülkenberg’s grid position puts him in a reasonable place to pursue another points finish, although Saturday’s qualifying showed how little separates Audi from its immediate rivals. Bortoleto faces a harder task on a circuit where overtaking opportunities are limited. For Audi, the priorities are understanding the difference in performance between its cars and converting Saturday’s Sprint points into a second scoring result on Sunday.
SCHEDULE
| DAY/DATE | ACTIVITY | TRACK TIME | CET | EST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 09 Oct | Practice 1 | 16:30-17:30 | 10:30-11:30 | 4:30 AM – 5:30 AM |
| Fri 09 Oct | Sprint Qualifying | 20:30-21:14 | 14:30-15:14 | 8:00 AM -9:14 AM |
| Sat 10 Oct | Sprint Race | 17:00-18:00 | 11:00-12:00 | 5:00 AM – 6:00 AM |
| Sat 10 Oct | Qualifying | 21:00-22:00 | 15:00-16:00 | 9:00 AM -10:00 AM |
| Sun 11 Oct | Grand Prix | 20:00 | 14:00 | 12:00 AM |
RACE INFORMATION
AUDI REVOLUT F1 | FORMULA 1 SERIES | OFFICIAL SINGAPORE GP WEBSITE | GRAND PRIX EVENTS
SPRINT RACE RESULTS (TOP 10)
FULL RESULTS | WATCH BROADCAST
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME/GAP | LAPS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 39:48.162 | 20 | 8 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +2.591 | 20 | 7 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +16.871 | 20 | 6 |
| 4 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +17.238 | 20 | 5 |
| 5 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +20.632 | 20 | 4 |
| 6 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +24.321 | 20 | 3 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +27.525 | 20 | 2 |
| 8 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +28.272 | 20 | 1 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +36.220 | 20 | 0 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +37.640 | 20 | 0 |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| NC | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | DNF | 6 | 0 |
QUALIFYING RESULTS (TOP 10)
FULL RESULTS | WATCH BROADCAST
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | 1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:33.241 | 1:31.639 | 1:31.373 | 15 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:32.774 | 1:31.953 | 1:31.427 | 25 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:32.429 | 1:31.529 | 1:31.496 | 25 |
| 4 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:33.601 | 1:32.079 | 1:31.562 | 23 |
| 5 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:33.076 | 1:31.895 | 1:31.712 | 24 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:33.617 | 1:32.212 | 1:31.747 | 23 |
| 7 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:33.076 | 1:32.245 | 1:31.860 | 22 |
| 8 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:33.182 | 1:32.602 | 1:32.225 | 22 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:32.885 | 1:32.319 | 1:32.369 | 21 |
| 10 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:33.288 | 1:32.498 | 1:32.781 | 21 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1:33.288 | 1:32.784 | 19 | |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:34.169 | 1:33.658 | 19 |
DRIVER STANDINGS (TOP 10)
| POS. | DRIVER | NATIONALITY | TEAM | PTS. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Anotonelli | 🇮🇹 ITA | Mercedes | 325 |
| 2 | George Russell | 🇬🇧 GBR | Mercedes | 236 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 🇬🇧 GBR | Ferrari | 221 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | 🇲🇨 MON | Ferrari | 197 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | 🇳🇱 NED | Red Bull | 196 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | 🇬🇧 GBR | McLaren | 189 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | 🇦🇺 AUS | McLaren | 128 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | 🇫🇷 FRA | Red Bull | 96 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | 🇳🇿 NZL | Racing Bulls | 69 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | 🇫🇷 FRA | Alpine | 41 |
| – | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 🇧🇷 BRA | Audi | 10 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | 🇩🇪 GER | Audi | 9 |
TEAM STANDINGS
| POS. | TEAM | PTS. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 561 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 418 |
| 3 | McLaren | 317 |
| 4 | Red Bull | 306 |
| 5 | Racing Bulls | 94 |
| 6 | Alpine | 68 |
| 7 | Haas | 30 |
| 8 | Audi | 19 |
| 9 | Williams | 12 |
| 10 | Aston Martin | 7 |
| 11 | Cadillac | 0 |
SPRINT STARTING GRID
| LEFT SIDE | RIGHT SIDE (RACING LINE) |
|---|---|
| Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (P2) | Max Verstappen, Red Bull (P1) |
| Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (P4) | Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (P3) |
| Oscar Piastri, McLaren (P6) | Lando Norris, McLaren (P5) |
| Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls (P8) | Pierre Gasly, Alpine (P7) |
| Nico Hulkenberg, Audi (P10) | Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls (P9) |
| Esteban Ocon, Haas (P12) | Oliver Bearman, Haas (P11) |
| Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi (P14) | Carlos Sainz, Williams (P13) |
| Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (P16) | Franco Colapinto, Alpinei (P15) |
| Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (P18) | Alexander Albon, Williams (P17) |
| Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac (P20) | Sergio Perez, Cadillac (P19) |
| Isack Hadjar, Red Bull (P22) | George Russell, Mercedes (P21) |
TEAM QUOTES
Allan McNish, Racing Director
“I think it was a pretty good session overall, certainly for Nico, who drove very well. He had a clean and tidy run through qualifying and extracted the maximum performance from the car that we had available tonight.
“On Gabi’s side, we were a little bit off the pace for reasons we still need to understand. It is certainly not down to the driver, but we need to get to the bottom of why there was a performance difference between the cars throughout the lap, something we haven’t seen at any point this season. We will be putting our heads together to understand that.
“With Russell’s grid penalty, Nico will move up to P10, while Gabi will start from P14. I think those are good positions from which to fight for points tomorrow.”
Nico Hulkenberg, Car $27
Sprint: 7th, Qualifying: 11th, 1:32.784
“It was a positive Saturday overall. Picking up a couple of points in the Sprint was a nice bonus and we’ll certainly take that. Qualifying was tidy as well. We tried a few things with the setup and threw everything at it in Q2, but in the end we were just missing that little bit of pace to make Q3.
“Starting from P10 [due to George Russell’s penalty] isn’t a bad place to be around Marina Bay. We’ll look through everything tonight, and hopefully we can put ourselves in the fight for points tomorrow.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, Car #5
Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 15th, 1:33.658
“It was a tough Saturday for me. This morning in the Sprint, everyone was bunched up in the last sector after the Safety Car restart, and I got hit from behind. There was nothing I could really do: the damage was very marginal, but unfortunately it was enough to make continuing impossible. It’s a shame because a race like this is full of opportunities, and maybe points were on the table today.
“Qualifying wasn’t great either. I made a mistake on my final lap and went straight in Turn 14. I didn’t feel like I had very good grip throughout the session, and I just didn’t manage to put the lap together. Until that point, it was looking quite good, but margins are small and mistakes are costly. Tomorrow, starting from P14 is going to be tough because this is a track where overtaking is very limited, but I’ll try my best and see what progress we can make.”
PHOTO GALLERY
