The stakes could hardly have been higher heading into the Singapore Grand Prix. McLaren had the chance to wrap up the Constructors' Championship, while Max Verstappen had the opportunity to close the gap to their drivers again and revive his title chances.
In the 100 minutes that followed, arguably the 100 most challenging minutes on the F1 calendar thanks to the combination of the sweltering heat and the narrow streets, both parties achieved their goals, and yet neither would have been leaving the circuit entirely satisfied.
Here are my main takeaways from the race.
McLaren make it two from two
It was far from the perfect weekend for McLaren, as I'll get on to in a bit, but it was ultimately a case of Mission Accomplished, with the British team sealing a second straight and fully deserved Constructors' Championship.
The ease and inevitability with which they did so make it feel like less of a big deal, but when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, you realise that it really is a remarkable achievement.
10 years ago, they finished second to last in the Constructors' Championship with 27 points to their name. Three years ago, they finished fifth with just one podium. Now, they've become champions earlier in a season than anyone except Red Bull in 2023.
What makes their rise so impressive is that it came as a result of big, brave decisions. Returning to Mercedes engines, even when logic suggested it would make it hugely difficult to beat the German team. Dropping Daniel Ricciardo for Oscar Piastri, even when the older Aussie was a proven race-winner and the younger one an unknown quantity. Replacing Andreas Seidl with Andrea Stella instead of looking externally, even though the latter had no experience as a team principal.
On multiple occasions, they could have played things safe, but they always chose to roll the dice instead, taking big risks in pursuit of big rewards, and it's paid off big time.
CEO Zak Brown won't be popping all the champagne until the Drivers' Championship is secured, but the American and his colleagues can look back on the first half of the 2020s as nothing short of a triumph regardless of how that pans out.
Piastri looking precarious
Speaking of the Drivers' Championship, it would take a brave man to put big money on who's going to win it with six rounds to go, because the leader is looking vulnerable.
Piastri finished behind Lando Norris for the third race in a row in Singapore after being barged aside by his teammate on the opening lap, and not for the first time in recent weeks, he seemed a far cry from the cool and consistent Piastri from earlier this season after that.
He sounded stressed and shaky as he complained about Norris' move on the team radio, and never really put much pressure on his teammate after that, largely closing the gap just because the Brit was stuck behind the slower Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
Piastri built his lead in the standings by being completely ruthless and near-flawless, but he hasn't been either for a while now. Allowing Norris to pass him in Monza just because the team messed up the latter's pit-stop certainly wasn't ruthless. Crashing out after jumping the start in Baku certainly wasn't flawless. And there wasn't much of either trait on show in Singapore.
The biggest positive that the Aussie will take from the weekend is that neither Norris nor Verstappen won the race, but even with a fairly sizeable lead of 22 points to his name, he needs to step things up.
Russell halts Verstappen's charge
Along with their title, the other big positive for McLaren was that Max Verstappen didn't claim his third win in a row and really pile the pressure on their drivers, and they have another of their rivals to thank for that.
George Russell's season has been somewhat overshadowed by all the talk of Mercedes thinking about dropping him for Verstappen in 2026, but in Singapore, he brought attention back to his on-track abilities and showed why they've ultimately decided to stick with him.
As seems to be the case in most of his races these days, he was inch-perfect from start to finish, and with such a performance following a stunning lap in qualifying to give him pole position, he claimed one of the most impressive wins of the season.
He hasn't often been given the machinery he would have hoped for at Mercedes, but he constantly shows that, when he has a top car, he's a match for anyone, even Verstappen. In fact, since Lewis Hamilton dropped off, Russell has been the only driver at the front of the field to really get under the Dutchman's skin, and the only one who doesn't seem the slightest bit afraid of him.
I was recently asked by someone not really into F1 who the best driver on the grid is after Verstappen, and while my first thought was Charles Leclerc, I thought of Russell before either of the McLaren drivers. Now, I very much trust my instinct.
If the Mercedes engine is as dominant as reports suggest next year, it will be Russell vs Norris vs Piastri for the title. If that's the case, I'd say Russell's the favourite.
