Rosanna Tennant
5 Live F1 reporter in Singapore

There is quite a party atmosphere here, always a special one. A night race and there is a real excitement in the air that something good is coming Lando Norris' way this evening.

The reign of Red Bull at the top of the constructors' championship, which has lasted since the 2022 season, has come to an end. McLaren are now 20 points clear of the six-time title winners with seven races remaining.

Third-placed Ferrari are 51 points off new leaders McLaren and 31 points behind Red Bull.

Image source, Getty Images

This is how the drivers' championship looks as we gear up for the Singapore Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen 59-points ahead of rival Lando Norris.

Charles Leclerc still has a little toe dipped in the title battle and is only 19 points behind second-placed Norris, while his team-mate Oscar Piastri, winner in Azerbaijan and starting four places higher than Leclerc, is only 13 points away from the Ferrari man's tally.

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Singapore

Image source, Pirelli 2024

The race will likely be a one-stop, unless a late safety car triggers a second round of stops for fresh tyres. That’s because the pit-stop time loss is so high - 30 seconds under green flag conditions, and 16-17 under safety car. Soft or medium tyres for the first stint? Some will be tempted by the extra grip of the soft off the line, but the medium is a better race tyre and is not that much worse in the initial metres.

Stop timing is critical - overtaking is hard and the undercut is powerful, so teams will not want to fall prey to it. On the other hand, you don’t want to pit and come out in traffic behind a reasonably fast car, and that includes the Ferraris and Williams, which are out of position on the grid. And 30 seconds is a big gap to open up.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

It is a challenging race to negotiate, 62 laps in this excruciating heat, drivers will lose kilo upon kilo of body sweat.

Image source, Getty Images

Pole sitter Lando Norris will start at the front of the grid in the McLaren, he told Sky Sports: "I try and be as relaxed as possible but it's still a stressful sport. I've felt good all weekend, and for quite a while actually, the last few months I've felt confident, just waiting for things to make that final click into place.

"So far this weekend that's been the case so I'm happy but we are keeping our heads down."

On getting the job done today, he added: "Just the obvious, get off the line well, I've had confidence [in the car] for a long time now, the team are doing an amazing job.

"We've outperformed every other team on the grid and that's an incredible thing to be part of.

"I'm proud of the team but I still have to go and do my job. Go on track, perform everything well and get a good start and a good first lap. I'm confident with the package I've got.

"I'm looking at every race as an opportunity, I'm trying to win every race and get every pole, but it's not easy and I'm competing against a lot of great guys.

"People forget that Red Bull is still Red Bull, and forget that Max is still a multiple world champion, I'm fighting against the best in the sport. I'm enjoying it but it's also tough."

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The Aston Martin mechanics are on their hands and knees on the grid putting Lance Stroll's car back together. Team performance director, Tom McCullough tells Sky Sports they're confident the Canadian will be ready to start the race, after highlighting an issue during the reconnaissance lap

Image source, Getty Images

Behind the mix of McLarens, Mercedes and Max Verstappen's Red Bull at the front of the grid, is the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in sixth place.

The German was delighted with the team's "solid" performance in qualifying and said he had a "good feeling" and "confidence" with the car.

"Our package has been competitive this year and we managed to do a very clean qualifying yesterday and maximise everything, we intend to do the same today," said Hulkenberg earlier.

"I think we can [fight], it's not going to be easy, we will have to work for it, stay clean and faultless."

Hulkenberg has a chance to overtake Lance Stroll in the standings today, if he can keep Haas in with a shout of scoring points. Aston Martin's Stroll is 10th in the championship, two points ahead of Hulkenberg in P11. The Canadian was eliminated in Q1 and starts way down the field in P17.

Image source, Getty Images

Last year's Singapore Grand Prix was the race Max Verstappen's phenomenal winning streak came to an end, as Ferrari's Carlos Sainz took victory at Marina Bay, with the Dutchman in fifth place after starting P11.

Fast forward 12 months and while Verstappen is leading the way in the championship once again, he arrives at Marina Bay on a run of seven races without a victory: his last win coming at the Spanish Grand Prix in June.

After initially struggling with a lack of grip on Friday, Verstappen's strong performance in qualifying - he said the team "managed to improve the car run after run" - has put his Red Bull back in with a shot of returning to winning ways, although this is a track the 26-year-old has never won on.

Darkness has shrouded the Marina Bay Street Circuit but the teams on the grid are still trying to keep cool in the sweltering conditions.

The drivers are lining up for the national anthem but... is that Lenny Kravitz? It is. Martin Brundle is straight over.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Williams' Franco Colapinto spoke to Sky Sports ahead of the race: "I feel comfortable around here and I'm very excited for the race. Let's see how it goes."

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told BBC Sport in August the Silver Arrows have an "open communication channel" with Max Verstappen regarding a potential future with the team - but what about George Russell moving in the other direction?

During his chat with Sky Sports, Christian Horner said it would be "foolish not to take into consideration" Russell as a potential signing, especially as the British driver is out of contract with Mercedes at the end of next year.

He has also expressed his excitement about the younger Red Bull drivers racing in other categories.

"We’ve given a great opportunity to so many youngsters over a period of time. The Red Bull system does demand performance and Max is delivering, Checo has been underdelivering this year," Horner added.

“We’ve got Isack Hadjar in Formula 2 that until recently has been leading that championship. We’ve got a very young and exciting talent that I’m particularly excited about in F3, Arvid Lindblad."

Image source, Getty Images

Daniel Ricciardo has been under pressure this week with news this could be his last race of the 2024 season, with Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson in line to take his seat at RB sooner rather than later.

Speaking to Sky Sports on Saturday, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “These things are under constant review, there is obviously a much bigger picture than just Daniel as we continue to look at all of our options as we move forward.

“Inevitably we will sit down this break and consider all of those options.

Image source, Getty Images

“It’s not to the detriment of Daniel, we know how he’s performed, we’ve got a lot of data, we’ve got a lot of knowledge where Daniel is. It’s a much bigger picture within the whole driver merry-go-round of what does the future look like.

“We’ve got Liam Lawson on the bench, we are not quite sure… looking at the likes of Colapinto and Bearman and Antonelli, is he at that level? Only time will tell.”

Image source, Getty Images

Do not be fooled by Lewis Hamilton's cosy autumnal knitwear, the temperature for today's 62-lap race is still a sweaty 29 degrees - as shown by Valtteri Bottas wearing his ice vest during the drivers' parade earlier.

The risk of a shower is also minimal, so the green intermediate and blue wet-weather tyres can stay packed up in the box.

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell will start P4 in the Mercedes and he told Sky Sports: "I'm not thinking about [last year's crash]. It's history and it doesn't change my approach at all. You learn from that and we will go out today and enjoy it, try and stay cool and see what the race will offer."

On potentially exploiting the front runners, he added: "[On Norris] I think naturally when you're fighting for your first championship and when you know you've got the quickest car on the grid, you know it's yours to lose as such.

"It's not always straight forward but Lando is a great driver and I'm sure when he gets another win or two under his belt he's just going to run away with things, maybe this could be the start of something for him and McLaren."

On the opening lap, he said: "That is going to be Max's only opportunity, if he doesn't get past Lando on Turn One, Lando is going to be into the distance.

"For whatever reason, the P2 car has had a bad start. I would love to see Max battle it out. Hopefully Lewis and I can swing by but there's been a safety car every single year, so I'm sure there will be other opportunities as the race goes on."

Image source, Getty Images

Like a lot of drivers this weekend, Lewis Hamilton has had to problem-solve issues with his car, even predicting he would not make it into Q3 after a frustrating Friday practice outing.

On Saturday, the Mercedes finally delivered for the seven-time world champion and now he starts his Singapore Grand Prix in third place - his best qualifying spot since his P2 at Silverstone in July.

"Qualifying has been a disaster for me all year long and I have just been working and working and working trying to get myself back up there and all of a sudden the car came to me for the first time in a long time in qualifying," said Hamilton, who is a four-time winner in Singapore.

"We have been moving up and down on balance. We have changed everything and the mechanics have been faultless and I hope we are in a good position to fight for the front tomorrow."

Image source, Getty Images

Qualifying as a whole was a disappointing experience for Ferrari after what was a promising start to the weekend in the opening practice sessions on Friday.

Charles Leclerc was already struggling to make an impression at the top of the leaderboard in Q3 before team-mate Carlos Sainz's crash when he had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn Two. Leclerc will take his place next to Sainz in ninth spot.

The issue for the team, Leclerc said, was getting the tyres up to temperature and in good working order.

"When we get out of the garage with front tyres that are too cold, then you arrive in the first corner and you lock up, so I don’t know what’s gone on," he added.

“I don’t have the answer yet, the team don’t have the answer yet, but we need to look into it because we paid the price today.”

Image source, Getty Images

The final part of qualifying became a one-lap shootout after Carlos Sainz crashed his Ferrari at the start of his flying lap, bringing out the red flag. The Spaniard walked away from the wreckage unharmed and will line up in P10 on today's grid.

"Very strange Quali," Sainz wrote on X. "I moved to the dirty line to let a McLaren by before my lap and I misjudged tyre temp and grip, losing the rear.

"Costly mistake on my side, sorry to the team. The race here is long and there will be opportunities."

If Sainz needs a shot of encouragement after his Q3 shunt, then today marks a milestone in his Formula 1 career, as the 30-year-old celebrates his 200th race in Singapore.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Singapore

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen says his punishment for swearing is "ridiculous" after initially protesting against the penalty by giving short answers in an official news conference.

After restricting his answers in the FIA news conference following Singapore Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, Verstappen agreed to speak to the media outside the room.

The world champion said: "I find it of course ridiculous what happened, so why should I then give full answers?

"Because it’s very easily apparent you get a fine or some kind of penalty.

"So I prefer not to speak a lot, save my voice. We can do the interviews also somewhere else if you need some answers or questions asked."

Verstappen said he had been punished to "set a precedent" and that "with me they wanted to set an even bigger example I guess, which for me is a bit weird, because I didn’t swear at anyone. I just said one thing about my car."

And he said that he did not hold the decision against the stewards for the weekend, who include former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert.

Verstappen said: "It’s in the (FIA sporting) code. They have to follow the book. I don’t want to blame this on the stewards because I actually had a really good chat with them. They just have to follow the code in the book. I think they are quite understanding. It’s difficult for them as well."