The Dutchman\u2019s Singapore slip is even more remarkable when you remember what he achieved during his 2023 campaign, when he won 19 of 22 races. His three misses included a pair of second places in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. In Singapore he finished fifth.<\/p>\n
Marina Bay is also one of only two active circuits at which he\u2019s never started from pole, the other being the relatively new addition of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s record is so bizarrely bad that he\u2019s only ever led three laps in Singapore. Antonio Giovinazzi, veteran of three campaigns for the current Sauber team, has led more laps (four) in Singapore than Verstappen has.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could say there is unfinished business,\u201d Verstappen acknowledged ahead of the weekend.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s more than unfinished business. A Singapore victory for Verstappen in 2025 would be about more than correcting this historical anomaly.<\/p>\n
Victory at this weekend\u2019s Singapore Grand Prix could be defining for the championship battle.<\/p>\n
PIT TALK PODCAST: After his disaster in Azerbaijan, can Oscar Piastri bounce back in Singapore to reassert himself as the championship leader?<\/p>\n
RED BULL RACING\u2019S SINGAPORE HISTORY<\/p>\n
It takes nothing away from his glittering CV to say Verstappen can only achieve what his car is capable of achieving. That\u2019s true for all drivers.<\/p>\n
The difference between him and his teammates demonstrates how much value he brings to the team, taking his car much, much closer to its performance ceiling.<\/p>\n
But the story of Verstappen\u2019s fallow Singapore history starts with Red Bull Racing.<\/p>\n
There was a time when RBR was the form team around Marina Bay.<\/p>\n
In 2009, the precursor to its first tile-winning campaign, Sebastian Vettel qualified on the front row, albeit before fading to fourth in the race.<\/p>\n
In 2010 Vettel qualified second again and finished just 0.293 seconds behind Fernando Alonso in a tense battle for victory.<\/p>\n
The German then slammed on wins in the following three seasons, each victory more comfortable than the last.<\/p>\n
And then the winning stopped.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing has won in Singapore just once in the 11 years since then, and even that victory had more to do with circumstance than pure pace, with Sergio P\u00e9rez nailing his start from second in the wet to lead pole-getter Charles Leclerc into the first turn.<\/p>\n
The Ferrari car was clearly quicker on that steamy night, but P\u00e9rez\u2019s defensive work was steadfast to claim a gritty, hard-earnt victory over a marathon two-hour grand prix.<\/p>\n
The sudden end of Red Bull Racing\u2019s Singapore winning streak gives us some clear hints.<\/p>\n
We know that the team suffered with the 2014 engine regulation changes. Renault, which had powered RBR to all four of its constructors titles up to that point, botched the new rules \u2014 it\u2019s still paying for it now \u2014 and left Red Bull Racing down on power and reliability in the face of the Mercedes juggernaut.<\/p>\n
After speeding to 47 victories between 2009 and 2013, the team won just 15 races over the following six seasons, scavenging opportunities missed by either Mercedes or Ferrari ahead.<\/p>\n
But the team\u2019s recent struggles are harder to explain. Since Singapore returned to the calendar post pandemic in 2022, Red Bull Racing has been the form team more often than not, including in that every-win-but-one 2023 campaign.<\/p>\n
Except in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Mrquez wins seventh MotoGP world title | 01:37<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE IS F1\u2019S TOUGHEST TEST<\/p>\n
Singapore\u2019s outlier status is part of the story \u2014 even Mercedes in its pomp turned up to Marina Bay in 2015 and ended up with neither driver finishing on the podium.<\/p>\n
That was also the first race of the new rules era in which a Mercedes-powered car didn\u2019t take pole position.<\/p>\n
The team won the next three editions of the race, but none of those wins were claimed in the dominant fashion of their respective seasons generally.<\/p>\n
The unusual characteristics of the track play a significant role. It\u2019s a low-grip street circuit and relatively slow speed, but the high ambient temperature and high track temperature makes it a counterintuitive challenge to warm up the tyres relative to, say, Monte Carlo or other street tracks.<\/p>\n
The same goes for the car, which must be set up with far more cooling than it would if this circuit were situated away from the equator, taking it out of its comfort zone.<\/p>\n
In the race\u2019s early years there were even concerns about mysterious source of electrical interference at the far end of the circuit, between turns 12 and 13, that was disrupting car sensors and even interrupting other electrical car functions around gear changes and throttle application.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s before we consider the human element of racing in the punishing equatorial conditions. Drivers regularly lose weight by the kilo competing in this grand prix, which stands as the toughest physical test of the year owing to the heat, humidity and lack of straights to cool the body, though circuit changes in recent years have reduced the number of corners.<\/p>\n
But none of these alone explain why Red Bull Racing appears to have been uniquely of the pace here in recent years, when wins have been shared among Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.<\/p>\n
A more obvious culprit exists with the line of cars Red Bull Racing has built for the current ground-effect regulatory era.<\/p>\n
These cars want to be run as close to the ground as possible, but to keep them in that sweet spot requires compromises around ride quality and suspension. It\u2019s easy enough to keep a car low and rigid, but to do so while also keeping it complaint over kerbs or undulating and bumpy public roads is an almost impossible challenge.<\/p>\n
The way the team has built its cars means that they\u2019re quick at the average F1 circuit but can fall out of the window at outliers like Singapore, which rewards cars that can attack the kerbs and maintain their composure over the uneven ground.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s left Verstappen without the necessary weapon to claim his final scalp.<\/p>\n
‘Certainly not my finest moment’ | 02:58<\/p>\n
CAN RED BULL RACING BREAK THE CURSE?<\/p>\n
All that\u2019s not to say there haven\u2019t been chances for Red Bull Racing and Verstappen. The Dutchman was second \u2014 albeit a distant second \u2014 to Lando Norris here last year, and he\u2019s stood on the podium three times in total from eight starts in Singapore.<\/p>\n
And in that context we must consider that Red Bull Racing arrives this year in a potentially different position.<\/p>\n
While the RB21 started the year troubled, upgrades brought to the car after the mid-season break appear to have transformed its fortunes.<\/p>\n
Verstappen is on a two-race victory streak, winning from pole in Italy and Azerbaijan, the latter with his sixth career grand slam \u2014 victory with the fastest lap and after having led every lap \u2014 in a dominant flourish.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s scored 68 of a possible 75 points over the last three rounds.<\/p>\n
Monza and Baku of course share similarities. They\u2019re both highly sensitive to power, with both boasting long straights. It\u2019s a configuration with which Red Bull Racing works well. McLaren, on the other hand, has its usual strengths neutered by the same sort of circuit demands.<\/p>\n
But there are signs that the car\u2019s recent form since its Monza upgrade will help at more than just high-speed, low-downforce circuits.<\/p>\n
Baku, for example, has very different corner profiles to Monza. Its short, sharp 90-degree classic street-style corners contrast with Monza\u2019s fast chicanes.<\/p>\n
In that sense there\u2019s some crossover between Baku and Singapore, which on paper is otherwise a very different street circuit, albeit with one key and possibly defining difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go to Singapore, you keep the slow-speed corners, but you go to maximum downforce, where we have been struggling quite a lot,\u201d team boss Laurent Mekies said, per Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso it\u2019s a much hotter track compared to Baku, and we know how sensitive not only us but the whole field are to this aspect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take it step by step. We take the challenge of Singapore. It\u2019s a track that\u2019s been challenging for the team for many, many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the evidence Red Bull Racing can be more optimistic comes perhaps not from Verstappen\u2019s win but from teammate Yuki Tsunoda\u2019s improved performances.<\/p>\n
Tsunoda \u2014 and, before him, Liam Lawson \u2014 has been struggling badly with the RB21\u2019s foibles but has been considerably improved since the car was upgraded in Monza.<\/p>\n
The under-pressure Japanese star has made Q3 two races in a row for the first time since May. His sixth place on the grid and in the race in Baku are comfortably his best results over one lap and over a race distance since joining Red Bull Racing.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting too that in Italy, where he failed to score, he wasn\u2019t equipped with the full upgrade package. He then turned in his most comprehensive performance yet in Azerbaijan once he got his complete allocation of parts.<\/p>\n
Verstappen wouldn\u2019t have needed a significant tweak to return to victory and title contention. Tsunoda, however, has been struggling with race pace in particular for months and would have needed more than some tinkering to generate such a significant form turnaround \u2014 notwithstanding he\u2019s also credited more simulator work for what looks like the beginning of a recovery.<\/p>\n
It all adds up to a positive picture for the final seven rounds of the season \u2014 and for this weekend\u2019s Singapore Grand Prix, when Red Bull Racing could find itself in contention for a rare victory.<\/p>\n
Vamos! Sainz ECSTATIC with podium result | 01:03<\/p>\n
WHY IT MATTERS THIS WEEKEND<\/p>\n
If \u2014 and it remains a big if \u2014 Red Bull Racing can perform strongly in Singapore and Verstappen can pull off a victory, the implications for the championship will be significant.<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s win in Azerbaijan sliced his title deficit down to 69 points \u2014 still considerable so late in the year but just about within striking distance with a perfect end to the season.<\/p>\n
McLaren boss Andrea Stella has already said that he has no doubt Verstappen is still in the title hunt.<\/p>\n
That, however, relies on the picture of the last two rounds continuing.<\/p>\n
If that happens, not only will Verstappen have broken his Singapore curse, but he will have also completely rewritten the from book.<\/p>\n
On paper, based on everything we\u2019ve learnt so far this season, Singapore should be comfortable McLaren territory because when the cars are loaded up with downforce, the MCL39 is the most efficient \u2014 it can be fastest through the corners without sacrificing straight-line speed. That\u2019s before considering its strengths managing its tyres in hot conditions.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing has struggled to make that same set-up compromise this year. If it manages to do so this weekend, however, it will be hard evidence that it really has turned a corner with its car and that Verstappen must be taken seriously as a championship threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last two races have been great for the team,\u201d Verstappen said. \u201cWe have made really strong progress, found a positive set-up with the car and are heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Singapore circuit is quite different, so will be more of a test. It is quite a physically demanding track for all drivers, and in this race it is about really getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a strong team performance, so I\u2019m looking forward to what the week brings.\u201d<\/p>\n
A strong performance \u2014 a first winning performance \u2014 could change everything in Singapore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen has won 67 grands prix across 26 different circuits. Singapore is not one of them. F1\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[117417,13273,1724,64,63,961,117423,100312,52629,117414,29743,31300,81124,22777,117428,117430,13275,117412,101486,77366,16210,117427,3462,11301,117402,2057,117418,817,845,117420,117404,813,816,2105,841,14211,117421,117415,117403,2328,117422,117424,4280,2082,825,117426,117419,117416,2119,106478,16280,117429,117410,117413,18895,21749,43359,18255,117425,2016,14640,851,2072,942,2643,2812,3595,85,28099,100051,117411,57847,117407,117409,18508,43353,106464,97745,36240,109450,117408,117406,102397,109459,12000,117405,3585,114498,5077],"class_list":["post-183564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-active-circuits","tag-andrea-stella","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-azerbaijan","tag-bogey-circuit","tag-bogey-track","tag-bounce-back","tag-car-sensors","tag-career-grand-slam","tag-championship-battle","tag-championship-chances","tag-championship-leader","tag-championship-swing","tag-championship-threat","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-circuit-changes","tag-comfort-zone","tag-comprehensive-performance","tag-constructors-titles","tag-counterintuitive-challenge","tag-defensive-work","tag-eastern-europe","tag-engine-regulation","tag-europe","tag-eyes-victory","tag-f1","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-form-team","tag-form-turnaround","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-grand-prix","tag-grands-prix","tag-hard-earnt-victory","tag-history-starts","tag-impossible-challenge","tag-italy","tag-low-downforce-circuits","tag-low-grip-street-circuit","tag-marc-marquez","tag-mark-thompson","tag-max-verstappen","tag-night-race","tag-outlier-status","tag-performance-ceiling","tag-pit-talk","tag-podium-resultformula","tag-pole-position","tag-positive-picture","tag-positive-set-up","tag-punishing-equatorial-conditions","tag-race-distance","tag-race-pace","tag-race-winner","tag-renault-s-a","tag-rules-era","tag-russia","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-sebastian-vettel","tag-sergio-perez","tag-singapore","tag-sky-sports","tag-south-eastern-asia","tag-southern-europe","tag-sports","tag-straight-line-speed","tag-street-circuit","tag-street-tracks","tag-team-performance","tag-throttle-application","tag-tile-winning-campaign","tag-title-contention","tag-title-deficit","tag-title-gap","tag-title-hunt","tag-track-temperature","tag-two-race-victory-streak","tag-tyres-relative","tag-under-pressure-japanese-star","tag-unfinished-business","tag-upgrade-package","tag-western-asia","tag-winning-performance","tag-winning-streak","tag-world-titlemotorsport","tag-yuki-tsunoda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}