Here's the thing about Max Verstappen: even when he finally breaks his duck and takes a win, he refuses to sugarcoat reality. Just a few days after standing on the top step at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia—where he beat Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton—the Red Bull star is staring down a venue that has historically given him headaches: the Singapore Grand Prix.
Let's be honest, the stats at the Marina Bay Street Circuit are wild for a driver of his caliber. His best results at the track are a trio of P2 finishes in 2025, 2024, and 2018. When asked if he can finally chase down that elusive victory in Singapore, Verstappen kept it completely grounded. "We're going to try, that's for sure. It's always complicated on a street circuit, a lot of things have to come together," he said. "Some just happen a bit sooner than others and unfortunately for a lot of different reasons, we have not won here yet, even in our dominant years."
[When] we started in Melbourne, I was like nine-tenths behind Mercedes in third. And then we kind of went downhill, so at some point we were even further away from the leaders,
The machine under him has traditionally struggled to come alive at this specific track. While Verstappen is hoping the car behaves a bit better this time around, he admitted that "there are no guarantees" in a field featuring other squads who thrive on street circuits. Crucially, he noted that this venue is completely different from places like Baku or Monaco. With seven rounds of the season remaining, his strategy is simple: stay realistic, keep both feet on the ground, and see if they can carry any momentum before everyone shifts focus entirely to 2027.
Down in the other garage, teammate Isack Hadjar is still digesting what happened in Malaysia. A potential double podium for the team went begging late in the race when a battery issue dropped the Frenchman to P5. Despite the heartbreak, Hadjar managed to secure a historic first win for Red Bull Ford Powertrains just two races into his return from injury. Reflecting on the team's trajectory, Hadjar pointed out how far they've climbed. "[When] we started in Melbourne, I was like nine-tenths behind Mercedes in third. And then we kind of went downhill, so at some point we were even further away from the leaders," he said, crediting a final upgrade package and having Verstappen in the car for turning their average European form around.
As for the late technical gremlin, Hadjar is still digging into the data. "To be honest, it's still an ongoing analysis, but at the same time, I don't think whatever happened in Malaysia is going to impact us heading into Singapore," he noted. "But still, I'm not the type of guy who just moves on anyway, 'ah, the race is finished'. I want everything to be understood and, even if now I'm focused on Singapore, I am happy to then come back into a bit more details."
