It’s the annual return of Formula 1 to humid Southeast Asia for the Singapore Grand Prix. The city lit up once again for the last race before another monthlong break as McLaren entered the Marina Bay Street Circuit on top of the constructors’ championship.

Finally, the papaya team got its successful race this season where everyone came out happy.

1. Lando Norris didn’t botch his lead. A recurring joke this season that pops up when Lando Norris (McLaren) takes pole position is that he would immediately lose it on the first lap. This phenomenon happened four times, but thankfully, he broke the streak in Marina Bay.

On the first lap, the Brit stormed in front without any hitch, and stayed there with a huge gap like a nth-time world champion. That being said, Norris had two brushes against the wall that almost took us off our feet: his lockup before the Stamford 90° right-hander on Lap 29, and a metallic graze before the Singapore Sling on Lap 45.

Both moments were superficial, and Lando took the checkered flag home with a 20.945-second gap from Max Verstappen (Red Bull).

2. Oscar Piastri breezed past the Silver Arrows. Starting in P5, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) had an eventful night with the Mercedes-AMG duo. Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell experienced their respective difficulties in keeping up with the podium, so the young Aussie was able to lock onto the Mercs like a breeze.

However, the gap to Verstappen was so vast that he settled for P3, behind by 41.823 seconds.

3. Sergio Perez struggled to stay within the points. Despite coming off an impressive performance in Baku, Sergio Perez (Red Bull) returned to lackluster form after qualifying in P13, missing out on Q2. He did manage to move up in positions and finish in P10, but it showed signs of difficulty in pace.

Aside from the sweltering Singapore heat that everyone faced, the RB20 mostly battled with Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) unlike his teammate with the McLarens.

4. Singapore claimed two victims. The first to retire in the race was Alex Albon (Williams) after the team suspected his FW46 to have overheating issues. The Thai driver reluctantly had to pull into the pit garage early feeling that he could’ve gone on regardless, and that left his rookie teammate Franco Colapinto to pick up the pieces and finish in P11.

Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen (Haas) almost escaped the wall of Connaught on Lap 51, throwing small bits of the billboard in the process. That tiny move caused a damaging puncture on his rear-left tire, resulting in the second and last retirement by Lap 57.

5. It’s possibly the end of the road for Daniel Ricciardo. Daniel Ricciardo (VCARB) snagged the fastest lap point from Lando, which still places Max at the top of the championship. However, rumor has it that the Aussie might depart F1 this early in the season.

The biggest indicator of his imminent departure was his countenance during the post-race interviews—at a loss for words while taking in the sights and sounds of Singapore one last time.

Will the sad announcement come out during the month off as the circus continues in the Americas, starting with the United States Grand Prix on October 20 (or October 21, 3am Philippine time)? We’ll see.