Starting in P2 in front of his championship rivals, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, could have spelled disaster for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. It wasn’t until the past few races that Max has seemed to put it all together to best the ‘faster’ McLaren Car.
Verstappen did not have a strong start, leading into the contentious contact on Lap 1 with Lando Norris hitting the back of Max Verstappen’s car and therefore Lando Norris hitting Oscar Piastri.
For the rest of the race, Verstappen ran in 2nd with Lando Norris close in his wheel tracks. It is very difficult to overtake on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, but it was the skill of Verstappen that maintained the position for Red Bull.
Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix | Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen Fought Through Issues with His Red Bull
Early in the race Verstappen commented that he was struggling with downshifting the car. It was described as driving with ‘one hand behind his back’, and that wasn’t all. Verstappen also complained about the balance of his car, driving like it was “on a handbrake.”
In true Verstappen fashion, these conditions didn’t appear to affect him in holding on to the 2nd place position during the entire race.
When asked about the issues with his car and his choice of a soft tire to try to get a jump on George Russell, Max noted that they wanted to “try something different” due to starting on the less favorable “dirty side” of the track. All in all, though, Max recognized that he did all he could do today.
“The first stint was really just about surviving on the tires – trying to make it long enough to then pit for the hard tire. I think that worked out but unfortunately I think the whole race was quite difficult… more difficult than I hoped for, for a lot of different reasons. There are a few things we need to understand. Even then around here, even if you have more pace you can’t pass without anything crazy happening, so I think 2nd is the maximum result.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, P2
From Lando Norris’ point of view, though, he remarked that Verstappen drove a faultless race. Even with Max struggling with the car, in true champion fashion, no one saw him sweat.
“Max didn’t make any mistakes whether I was feeling good or not.”
Lando Norris, McLaren, P3Red Bull Focused on Short Term Results
Max Verstappen took another chunk out of the championship battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris during the race today, but that doesn’t seem to be the focus of leadership at Red Bull.
Unlike what we have seen in prior seasons, under new leadership Red Bull Racing is focusing on results on a “race by race basis” according to their new team principal, Laurent Mekies.
“We’ve made a step forward and we know we have more coming.”
Laurent Mekies, Radio to Max Verstappen
According to Mekies, especially under his new leadership, post-Horner era Red Bull is focused on learning and improving each race, rather than focusing on the long term picture of winning the Drivers’ Championship.
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) | Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images / Red Bull Racing
The team struggled for much of the season, and in some ways is still struggling with their second driver, Yuki Tsunoda, who is barely able to score a single point, let alone keep up with Verstappen.
However, earlier this weekend Max commented that the leadership of Mekies serves in the favor of both Red Bull drivers.
“What I like about him is that he is asking technical questions. Its been working well so far. We get on very well which is very important. We have to create a good atmosphere.”
Max Verstappen, Pre-Race
Verstappen has not scored lower than 2nd place over the past 4 races of the 2025 F1 season. We will see how this streak holds up when F1 returns to the United States at COTA in 2 weeks.
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