F1 Daily: McLaren's Collision, Red Bull's Mixed Qualifying, and Racing Bulls' 2027 Decision

Singapore treated Formula 1 to one heck of a ride on Saturday. Red Bull's Max Verstappen took home the Sprint Race victory in the afternoon, and then followed it up with pole position in the evening qualifying. 

Along with Verstappen's perfect Saturday, much more was going on the rest of the grid, including some mixed qualifying performances for several drivers.  

Max Verstappen is on a high, after winning the Sprint and qualifying first for Sunday's main race. However, his teammate suffered a different fate. 

Isack Hadjar's Saturday at Marina Bay was a complete mess. A power unit issue forced him out of the Sprint, ending his race only three laps in. Red Bull's mechanics succeeded in getting his car ready for qualifying, but trouble would pile up even more for the French driver.

Hadjar's engine apparently shut off on track, and he became the only driver without a lap time in Q1. 

The young Red Bull driver has proved that he can start from the back and storm through the grid, but the team needs to quickly fix their reliability issues. 

McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collided with each other in the final lap of the Sprint Race, forcing the latter to retire. Norris salvaged a point for the Papaya, but the team couldn't get back the points they lost on Saturday.

Team principal Andrea Stella was understandably disappointed over his drivers' clash, saying that the situation was "absolutely unacceptable." 

With Verstappen winning the race for Red Bull, McLaren saw their third-place lead in the championship trimmed down to 11 points. Norris and Piastri must deliver a strong Saturday, although they're starting the race outside the first two rows. 

After a reliability issue forced him to retire in Sepang, George Russell committed a "driver's error" in Singapore. During wet conditions in the Sprint Race, Russell was leading the race on Lap 1 when he brushed his wheels on the white line of the final corner, which still had standing water. As a result, he spun, damaged his car's rear end, and exited the race early.

Then, Russell's old-spec car (as opposed to teammate Kimi Antonelli's new upgrades) couldn't get the job done in qualifying. He qualified sixth, but an engine penalty forced him to start 21st for the main race.

Racing Bulls remains without a driver pairing for next year, but expect them to take their sweet time. Team Principal Alan Permane said that they're in "no rush", while hinting that the decision may take a few more weeks. 

Current drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad are doing a tremendous job this season. Combined, they have scored 94 points for the currently fifth-placed Racing Bulls. They hold a 26-point lead over Alpine, their nearest rivals in the midfield.

But the Racing Bulls are also studying their third option: Formula 2's Nikola Tsolov. Tsolov is currently second in the F2 standings, trailing Rafael Camara, who is primed for the Haas seat.