Technical issue takes shine off Hamilton’s DHL Fastest Lap and lap record

Singapore’s floodlit race pushes Formula 1 drivers to the limits of human endurance. The city-state experiences extremely high temperatures and humidity even at night, which is why race officials were obliged to declare the first heat alert of 2025. A special cooling system had to be installed in all the cars, and drivers were given the option of wearing a cooling gilet for the 62-lap race in order to maintain a comfortable body temperature.

The drivers’ choice of tires for this event, which is normally a one-stopper, were varied with some, like Max Verstappen for example, opting for the softest of all the different compounds at the start, while the majority went for mediums. Lewis Hamilton also decided to use the medium tire at the start, changing to the hard compound on lap 24.

Only three drivers stopped more than once, including Ferrari’s man. Hamilton; With a lead of over 50 seconds over his closest rival, he could afford to come in a second time. For the final sprint to the finish line, he chose to utilize a used set of soft tires which his mechanics fitted on lap 46. He set the DHL Fastest Lap in 1:33.808 minutes just two laps later which is also a new race lap record for the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

A technical issue stopped Hamilton’s charge with three laps to go, but he clung on to P7 despite the brakes on his left front wheel giving up the ghost. However, he was found to have exceeded track limits on several occasions over the final few laps and was subsequently handed a five-second penalty, losing his seventh place to Fernando Alonso as a result.

Hamilton sought to defend his driving style after the event, saying: "It didn’t gain me any advantage. I actually had no way of knowing if someone behind me was braking, so I moved over to the side. I must say, the last couple of days have been tough, but there have been a lot of positive aspects. I felt comfortable in the car, and our pace was excellent over the final third segment. As regards Austin, we must now see that we optimize as much as possible in order to bring home a good haul of points."