Overview

• Max Verstappen arrives with consecutive wins at Monza and Baku after a Red Bull floor upgrade, and Lando Norris labels him "genuinely a challenger."
• Oscar Piastri still leads by 69 points with seven races left, but his Azerbaijan crash and lap-one retirement marked his first DNF of the season.
• McLaren's recent pit-stop errors and missed opportunities have tightened the margins after a dominant early run.
• Piastri says Baku delivered "tough lessons" and that he will focus on execution rather than the championship picture.
• Singapore's heat and low-speed street layout could temper Red Bull's high-speed gains, with peers assigning modest comeback odds such as 15% from Alex Albon and 20% from Charles Leclerc.