Max verstappen

Listen to this article Verstappen started eighth after being obliged to abort his final qualifying lap, and then dropped to 12th after anti-stall kicked in at the start. He was making progress through the pack, but after a safety car restart he locked up and went off while trying to pass Lando Norris , which forced him to make an extra stop to change his flat-spotted tyres. After that, he charged through the field from the back of the pack to eventually finish seventh, passing Sebastian Vettel on the final lap. In recent seasons Verstappen has rarely been in situations where he's had to pass slower cars, and he insisted that it was not an enjoyable experience. Asked if he took any pleasure from it, he said: "Zero. This is not what I enjoy. [I want to] win or at least be competitively fighting at the front. "This is just frustrating, being stuck behind cars, having a problem at the start, then having a big lock-up, being again at the back." Verstappen said … [Read more...] about Verstappen: “Zero” pleasure from fighting through pack in Singapore GP

Qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix produced the closest fight for pole position involving three different teams for almost two decades. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free When Max Verstappen backed off his final flying lap because his Red Bull team had realised he was going to run too low on fuel, it secured Charles Leclerc’s ninth pole position of the season – and ensured no one will end the year with more of them than the Ferrari driver. Leclerc beat Red Bull’s Sergio Perez by 0.022 seconds and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by 0.054s. That’s the smallest gap which has covered three different teams at the front of a grid for nearly 20 years. You have to go back to the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix to find a closer top three involving a trio of different teams. Rubens Barrichello – also in a Ferrari – took pole position for that race by 0.011 seconds from David Coulthard (McLaren) and 0.044s from Mark Webber (Jaguar, which became Red Bull two years later). … [Read more...] about F1 stats: Closest three-team pole fight since 2003 in Singapore · RaceFans

Listen to this article Perez pulled off a brilliant victory at the Marina Bay circuit on Sunday, holding off race-long pressure from Charles Leclerc to grab his first win since the Monaco GP in May. He also managed to keep hold of the win despite being found guilty of two separate safety car rule infringements, having dropped back too far ahead of the restarts. Perez’s win comes off the back of a barren spell for the Mexican, where he has recently struggled to get as much out of the Red Bull RB18 as teammate Max Verstappen . He has had just one other podium finish since the summer break with a second place in Belgium. But having produced a well-earned victory in Singapore, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner hoped Perez could now hit his stride over the remainder of the campaign. “Checo has always been phenomenal at streets circuits,” said Horner. “He seems to like slippery street tracks. And we've been working hard with him on setu-ps and so on. "I think that … [Read more...] about Red Bull hopes Singapore F1 win gives Perez confidence after rough patch

Listen to this article In a wet-to-dry race, Lando Norris produced an error-free display to move up from sixth to fourth following a duel with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen , who both slipped up. Starting from 16th, Daniel Ricciardo also had a strong race to finish behind Norris in fifth, after delaying a switch from intermediates to slicks until a lap 36 safety car. In stark contrast to McLaren's 22-point haul, both Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon retired due to power unit failures, allowing McLaren to suddenly jump the Enstone team for fourth in the constructors' championship and lead by four points. When team boss Seidl was asked by Motorsport.com if he was surprised to be leading Alpine after generally struggling to match it on pace in recent months, he said the points swing simply shows the fight for fourth will remain an "open battle" until the last lap in Abu Dhabi, with Alpine's huge score in Belgium now undone by McLaren's … [Read more...] about McLaren: Singapore F1 swing showcases “open battle” for P4 with Alpine

Starting from pole sounds like a good thing for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, but actually this achievement tends to be a good omen for Red Bull based on the stats so far. The distinction of being on pole position varies in terms of importance from race to race, with venues like Monaco and Singapore seen as tracks where being the pole-sitter is hugely advantageous for a driver’s chances of winning. Of course, while claiming pole position is a great honour in Formula 1, it does not always mean the race win is incoming for that driver, as Leclerc found out most recently at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix. Finishing the race P2, not only did it extend his winless run which stretches all the way back to the Austrian GP in July, but it also further boosted a particular Red Bull statistic. As Sergio Perez took the lead from Leclerc at the start, going on to take the chequered flag , it meant that out of Leclerc’s 18 pole positions in his career, Red Bull have now won 10 of … [Read more...] about How pole position for Charles Leclerc is usually good news for Red Bull

Helmut Marko says Red Bull and Honda are in talks over a reunion, but as was the stance with Porsche, respecting Red Bull’s “DNA” is key. Red Bull took a chance on Honda after the Japanese manufacturer’s unsuccessful stint with McLaren, Red Bull assigning them to power their junior team Toro Rosso in 2018. That partnership proved successful enough for Red Bull to also take on the Honda power unit, which come 2021 powered Max Verstappen to his first World Championship. It was at the end of that season though when Honda withdrew from Formula 1 as they set about focusing their projects on carbon neutrality. Honda and Red Bull have not fully split, with Red Bull’s power units still built at Honda’s base, with a deal in place for Honda to continue their technical support through until the end of the 2025 season. From then Red Bull Powertrains will take over, the team’s new power unit division, as the new regulations come into effect from 2026. Red Bull had been in talks … [Read more...] about Red Bull commence talks with Honda over possible F1 reunion

Two-time World Champion Mika Hakkinen thought an uncharacteristic error by Red Bull in Singapore became an “embarrassing” one, as Max Verstappen’s chances were scuppered in qualifying. The reigning champion was left furious on his final qualifying run after being told to back off at the end of a flying lap, with the idea of taking advantage of the drying track to have a better chance at pole with one more run at the end of Q3. And the Red Bull driver had been almost a second up on Charles Leclerc’s best effort through the first two sectors, but was told to back off by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase towards the end of his lap – as his car had been under-fuelled for the lap he was on. This left Verstappen furious on team radio and after qualifying, criticising his team for mishandling his qualifying session in a move which ultimately saw him start eighth on Sunday. The ‘Flying Finn’ said that the conditions in Singapore at the weekend made it tough going for the drivers, but … [Read more...] about Mika Hakkinen surprised to see an ‘embarrassing’ mistake from Red Bull