Max Verstappen warns of a massive qualifying battle after Singapore sprint win
Max Verstappen officially secured his first-ever victory at the Marina Bay Street Circuit during Saturday's rain-delayed Singapore Grand Prix Sprint, but the four-time world champion is far from happy. After a 30-minute weather delay forced the grid to start on intermediate tyres, Verstappen suffered a terrible launch off the pole position, allowing Mercedes driver George Russell to instantly ...…
Max Verstappen secured a historic victory at the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint after a weather delay forced the grid to start on intermediate tyres. However, the four-time world champion is far from satisfied with his performance. Verstappen admitted that his starts have been terrible throughout the 2026 season, attributing the issue to a lack of understanding of his problems.
He pointed out that Red Bull's sister team, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, sometimes achieve good starts, implying that the factory lacks a crucial engineering detail. Verstappen believes that a similar poor start during Sunday's main Grand Prix race would instantly jeopardize his chances of securing back-to-back wins, given the difficulty of overtaking on the narrow street circuit.
He expects a much tighter battle during the traditional qualifying session due to the sprint format's restrictions on tyre usage. Verstappen believes that his rivals will have more goals in the standard qualifying format with multiple runs on the fastest tyre compound, making it more challenging for him to secure the pole position.
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