Max Verstappen arrives in Singapore, his great cuckoo in F1

The Dutch comes from winning the last two races and to dream of the Pentacampeonato must walk well in Marina Bay, the only track of the current calendar in which he never won.

Once the Nancial Country GP finished, just his house career, Max Verstappen was 104 points from Oscar Piastri, the leader of the tournament. At that time, the 15th date ended and with nine races for the end of the 76th season 1 season, not a staunch fan of the Dutchman had signs of hope that the Red Bull driver could thread his fifth consecutive crown. But…

The Milton Keynes team arrived at the GP in Italy with the last update available: a new flat background to try to resurface the RB21, which was far from fighting McLaren throughout the year. And the evolution responded brilliantly. Max Hilvanó two successes followed in Monza and in the Azerbaijan GP and after the 17th date, that difference that was 104 points, was reduced to 69 in just two races. And then?

The bar is still high. The same Verstappen recognized him: “Basically, everything has to go perfectly, and then I also need a little luck on their part (by McLaren). It is still very difficult, 69 points are still many,” said the tetracampeón.

Clear, If your intention is to continue cutting the difference and putting in trouble the mental strength of Piastri and Lando Norris, you must continue with your end in the next appointment, which will be this weekend in Singapore. And there lies a big problem for Max: he never won in the urban of Marina Bay.

The Singapurean urban is the only 24th route on the current F1 agenda in which it never climbed to the highest step of the podium. In fact, the small city-state does not like Red Bull since the era of hybrids was established. With the V8 engines, Sebastian Vettel won in 2011, 2012 and 2013. But from 2014 onwards (the race was not played in 2020 and 2021 by the pandemic) Only Czech Pérez, in 2022, managed to win with an Austrian car. In fact, in the overwhelming season 2023, in which Red Bull won 21 of the 22 dates, only failed … yes, in Singapore.

Verstappen ran the Singapore GP eight times and only rose to the podium three times: second in 2018, third in 2019 and second last year. Another fact is that he never achieved the pole position and his best starting place was second, achieved twice: 2018 and 2024.

Singapore is a track of high aerodynamic load, quite the opposite, to Monza and Baku, the places where Max doubled. Just a downloaded car is the configuration with which the Red Bull and Max is best felt, so Marina Bay’s challenge will be very difficult again. “The last two races have been fantastic for the team; We made great progress, we found a positive setting with the car and we go in the right direction. Both circuits were of low aerodynamic load and we had a good performance, And the Singapore circuit is quite different, so it will be one more test, ”said Max in the previous one.

Verstappen will not go down the guard until the end. He will continue to battle for triumphs and the crown, but to continue in the wave that began in Italy, the Singapore spine should be removed: “It is a quite physically demanding circuit for all pilots, and in this race it is about feeling comfortable with the uncomfortable. It is a great urban track to drive, but, of course, I never won there, so it could be said that there are pending issues. We need a good team performance, so I am looking forward to seeing what the week holds. ”Can the cuckoo get, win in Singapore, complete the 24 tracks visited successfully and continue with their dream of being champion again?