As FormulaUno.it reports, Red Bull arrives in Singapore with genuine enthusiasm following their first victory of the season last time out in Malaysia. The Milton Keynes outfit has done an exceptional job with their recent car upgrades—a feat made all the more impressive when looking at the struggles recently faced by teams like McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes.
Things certainly did not start out smoothly for Red Bull, though the squad has managed to stage a strong reaction even if they are not yet consistently fighting for the very front. Much of that credit belongs to none other than four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who always manages to extract something extra from the machine. Alongside him, teammate Isack Hadjar has proven to be one of the standout surprises of the entire campaign.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Verstappen made his intentions clear when asked about fighting for victory at Marina Bay, stating: “We’ll try, that’s for sure. It’s always tricky on a street circuit, a lot of things need to go right.” Interestingly, the Dutch driver has never tasted victory at Marina Bay, leaving it as one of the few venues still missing from his resume. “Some things happen a little bit earlier than others. And unfortunately for a variety of different reasons, we haven’t won here yet, even in the years we were dominating,” Verstappen explained. “You always have to look at the strengths of the car and Singapore was a track where our car was never really able to express itself at its best. I hope it goes a bit better this year, but there are no guarantees.”
Looking at the competitive landscape, Verstappen noted that rivals remain strong on street circuits while emphasizing that every venue brings its own unique character. Maintaining a grounded perspective after their breakthrough win, he added that the team must keep working hard because things will not necessarily stay this way for the remainder of the campaign. Looking further ahead, the Dutchman promised that next year will be a completely different story.
On the other side of the garage, Hadjar is still dealing with the frustration of losing a podium in the closing stages of the race in Malaysia due to a battery issue. Admitting that the investigation into the failure is ongoing, the French driver insisted that the setback will not impact their performance this weekend in Singapore. Reflecting on his campaign, Hadjar pointed out how far the team has come since Melbourne—where he lagged roughly nine tenths behind Mercedes—before hitting a plateau during the European leg and ultimately bouncing back thanks to a vital upgrade package.
“It’s great that a Red Bull power unit wins a race,” Hadjar remarked, highlighting the magnitude of winning in Formula 1 just four years into their engine manufacturing journey.
