Max Verstappen has the momentum on his side. In order to seriously intervene in the Formula 1 title fight, the world champion in Singapore has to ensure a premiere.
Max Verstappen obviously succeeds in these days. Only two sovereign victories in Formula 1, then he raced to victory in his free time on the Nürburgring north loop with his GT3 racing debut-which is just as an exceptional driver. Another triumph in his Red Bull at the Prestige night race in Singapore only seems to be the logical consequence. Or?
“There is still an invoice to pay here,” said the world champion before the 18th season racing (Sunday, 2:00 p.m.). The champion of the past four years has been determined, but humbly. Because even if it is difficult to believe: 67 Formula 1 race has won Max Emilian Verstappen, but none in Singapore. In 2023, his Red Bull team triumphed at 21 of 22 Grand Prix. The only outlier? Sure, Singapore.
Verstappen traditionally has a hard time on the winding headline, the first night race in Formula 1 history. His current bolide gets along better on distances on which little downforce is required, as in Monza and Baku. Many observers therefore speak of a fate race for the 28-year-old. His boss also does that. “We wait for Singapore. If Max also wins there, I will think about it,” said Red Bull Motor Sports Advisor Helmut Marko.
If Red Bull with the supposed malstructure RB21 also gets the curve on high-downforce routes like Singapore, the McLaren-duo Oscar Piatri and Lando Norris should begin trembling.
Piatri (69 points more) and Norris (44) are still far ahead of Verstappen, but the Dutch is clearly on the upswing – and when it comes to mental strength and experience in the title fight, the papaya pilot is significantly ahead anyway.
“Max is always a challenger,” said Norris on Thursday in the press conference. Verpappen, with which he is well friends, is “one of the best, if not the best” of history. He only underlined this again with his spectacular excursion to the Nordschleife. Mercedes pilot George Russell also has Verstappen in the title race “100 percent” on the note.
In addition, the heat alarm was triggered for the first time in Singapore. Due to the impending outside temperatures of more than 30 degrees, the fitness and resilience of the drivers could play an even larger role. “In this race it will be about arranging yourself with the uncomfortable”, predicted. And at the right time you have to be in the right place: Safety car driver Bernd Mayländer had to move out in 14 out of 15 Singapore races, several times did not win the fastest in the financial metropolis, but the clever.
However, it will hardly be possible to prevent McLaren that McLaren can already celebrate the win of the CONSTURS World Cup and repeat his previous year’s triumph. Red Bull is already arithmetically out despite the dust. In order to adapt the decision to the last sixth race weekend in Austin/Texas in mid -October, Mercedes has to collect 31 points more than McLaren on Sunday, Ferrari even 35.