Pole box checked, Verstappen is focusing on Singapore getaway

Max Verstappen says his pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix was the result he wanted the most on Saturday despite winning the Sprint.

Red Bull has historically struggled in Singapore more than at other venues, particularly in the ground effect era from 2022-25. That has meant Verstappen arrived at this weekend’s race having yet to secure a pole position or win at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, but after winning the Sprint from pole he backed it up with another pole position on Saturday night.

“It was good, just very close,” Verstappen said. “The margins are very close between us throughout the whole of qualifying. So very happy to be on pole because this is, of course, the one that I wanted.

“The car has been pretty strong all weekend. Of course, there are always things that you look into that can be better, but it was enough for pole, so very happy with that.

“I think our car now works a little bit differently compared to the previous regulations, where we’re stronger in different areas of a corner. But we’ll take it. We have been really on a positive trend, so for us it’s very special to take a pole here.”

Verstappen was a close second to George Russell in Baku at the start of the current tripleheader of consecutive race weekends, before winning from pole in Malaysia and sweeping the Singapore weekend so far. However, he admits he fears a weakness that could trip Red Bull up on Sunday.

“I think no one really knows about the long runs because we didn’t really get to do any,” he noted. “But for me, the most important part is more the start. We know that that’s not really been our strong area, so we need to work on that for tomorrow.

“Just trying to understand why it keeps going wrong, first of all, and then try to just do a better job tomorrow. The engines are exactly the same. Everything is the same, so there is no excuse.”

Prior to securing his 50th pole position, Verstappen had already voiced his concern over Red Bull’s starts as he goes in search of a first victory in Singapore.

“The start [in the Sprint] was horrendous again,” he said of today’s getaway, in which he started from pole but was beaten off the line by George Russell (pictured, top). “So that’s definitely something that we need to improve on because if you have something like that tomorrow, that’s your race over if nothing crazy happens. So yeah, not ideal.

“Of course, happy to win here in the Sprint, but I also know that I want to win tomorrow and not today … I don’t see this as a win in terms of actually winning a Grand Prix.”