Next week’s Singapore Grand Prix will show where the Formula One title is heading and whether McLaren can match Red Bull and Ferrari in the final races, according to world champion Jenson Button.
“I think it’ll give us a clearer idea of the destiny of the world championship,” the Briton, one of five drivers fighting for the title in a cliffhanger season, said in a McLaren team preview.
“The last time we were at a low-speed, high-downforce track was in Hungary back at the start of August,” he added.
“Our car wasn’t particularly competitive there and maybe we haven’t had a properly representative view of the top teams’ relative pace because we’ve just visited two high-speed circuits,” Button said.
Red Bull were dominant in Hungary, but had a harder time in Belgium and at high-speed Monza last weekend, with neither of their drivers on the Italian podium in a race won by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Despite that, Red Bull’s Australian Mark Webber took the championship lead from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who retired on the opening lap at Monza.
Hamilton won in Singapore last year.
“I’ve already drawn a line under Monza. I’ve learnt from the experience and, while it was extremely disappointing, those things are sometimes what you need to sharpen your mind and raise your game and motivation at an extremely crucial time in the season,” the 2008 champion said.
McLaren have been working hard to improve their car and will be bringing new developments that should make it more competitive on slower circuits.
There are four more races after Singapore — Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
At the same time, the governing International Automobile Federation has tightened the rules to prevent the flexing front wings that were thought to be giving Red Bull an advantage.
“A lot has changed since that race in Budapest,” Button said. “Not least, some quite hefty revisions to the rulebook regarding bodywork flexibility and, additionally, a lot of work by the engineers ... to ensure our car is now better suited to slower circuits.”
“Singapore will be interesting for all of us — we’ll not only get an idea of the speed of the Ferrari and Red Bull, but we’ll get to see for the first time whether all our efforts over the past two months have helped put us back in the ballpark at high-downforce tracks,” Button added.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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