Why Verstappen's potential advantage over Ferrari could also backfire

McLaren and Mercedes appear to be in a strong position when it comes to tyre availability ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, with Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and George Russell each having two fresh sets of mediums, one new set of hards and one unused set of softs.

This gives them greater strategic flexibility than pole-sitter Max Verstappen, who has just one fresh set of mediums remaining, alongside one used set and three used sets of softs.

Kimi Antonelli is in a similar position to the Red Bull driver regarding medium tyres, although the Mercedes youngster has two used sets available and no fresh softs. All five drivers have one unused set of hard tyres, meaning the main differences concern their options on the softer compounds.

Ferrari, meanwhile, has taken a different approach, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton each retaining two fresh sets of mediums and one new set of hards, but no unused soft tyres. That puts the Ferrari pair on equal footing with Norris and Piastri in terms of fresh medium and hard compounds, although McLaren has the additional option of a new set of softs.

Isack Hadjar stands out for a different reason, having three completely unused sets of soft tyres at his disposal, more than any other driver on the list. This is largely down to his severely limited running on Saturday, having retired just a few laps into the Sprint Race before technical problems prevented him from setting a time in qualifying.

However, the Frenchman has only one fresh set of mediums, potentially limiting his strategic options compared to McLaren and Ferrari if the race favours the yellow-marked compound, although he will still face a difficult task starting from the back of the grid.

As for the possible race strategies, Pirelli has outlined three different one-stop options. The first involves starting on soft tyres before switching to mediums between laps 26 and 32, while the second follows a similar approach but with a change to hards between laps 23 and 29. The third option is to start on mediums and switch to hards between laps 25 and 31, allowing drivers to complete the opening stint on a more durable compound.