Max Verstappen makes Singapore GP prediction with zero wins record addressed

Max Verstappen has admitted that he is not expecting Red Bull to “suddenly” emerge as contenders to win the Singapore Grand Prix given their historical struggles at the Marina Bay track.

Verstappen and Red Bull produced the most dominant season in F1 history in 2023, with the team winning all but one race as the Dutchman eased to a third consecutive World Championship.

Max Verstappen not expecting Red Bull miracle at Singapore GP

Singapore was the race that got away from Red Bull a year ago, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz taking the victory on a day Verstappen could only recover to fifth after falling in Q2.

Rather than the exception, Red Bull’s Singapore troubles have become the norm in F1 2024 with the RB20 struggling over bumps and kerbs in Monaco earlier this season, where Verstappen finished a distant sixth – his joint-worst result of the season.

Without a win since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23, Verstappen has failed to win any of the last seven races in his longest victory drought since the 2020 campaign.

Red Bull lost the lead of the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since May 2022 at last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Oscar Piastri took victory for McLaren, who hold a 20-point advantage with seven rounds remaining.

Verstappen’s lead over Lando Norris in the Drivers’ standings, meanwhile, stands at 59 points entering this race.

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With Singapore the only race on the current calendar where Verstappen has never triumphed, he isn’t expecting Red Bull’s fortunes to turn around at Marina Bay given its similarity to Monaco.

Appearing in Thursday’s press conference in Singapore, he said: “I know that it’s not going to be our easiest weekend, just straight up.

“But of course you analyse the race that you did last year, a few things that could have been done better, that’s all we’ll try to do this weekend.

“But I don’t expect it, of course, suddenly to be one of our strongest weekends.

“I just hope that what we did in Baku already, it stabilised the car a bit more, that was positive and hopefully we can just build on that and see around here.

“Of course, around here normally it’s a bit more bumpy than Baku, but hopefully the car can take it.

“[Baku] was good enough to see a few things on the car and hopefully you can just work from there.

“Our car generally is not very good on bumps and kerbs and that’s of course what you have around here, so we need to try and stabilize that a bit.”

Asked if he if confident of making Q3 in Singapore this season, he added: “I would hope so, yeah.

“Putting a number on it, I don’t even know where to start, but I’m confident that we can do a better job than last year.

“But at the same time, of course, also the competition has improved quite a bit naturally, but I’m definitely targeting Q3 and let’s see where we end up.”

Verstappen has twice finished on the podium in Singapore in the past, finishing second in 2018 before coming home third the following season.

Asked to explain why he has never triumphed at the night race, Verstappen admitted the Red Bull has “not been the best” at Red Bull historically.

And he pointed to 2022 as a missed opportunity to win in Singapore, with a fuel misjudgement leaving him eighth on the grid in a rain-affected qualifying session.

Verstappen could only recover to seventh the following day as team-mate Sergio Perez took a fine victory in the wet, with the Dutchman sealing his second Championship title a week later in Japan.

He explained: “Most of the time we just came up short. I’ve been on the podium.

“Unfortunately, I think the last few years, the car has not been the best, we’ve just been struggling on the bumps and the kerbs.

“2022 would have been a good shot at it, but I didn’t have enough fuel in the car in qualifying, so then you start further back.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t work out where, in other races, the luck is a bit more on your side or naturally, the car is in a better window in these tracks, and it comes to you a bit more.

“Whereas here, I think so far, it hasn’t been like that. I still have a few more goes at it, so we’ll see if it changes.”

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