Max Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez had a nightmare on Saturday during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, ending up 11th and 13th on the grid respectively.
George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz all agree that the Singapore Grand Prix represents their best chance of preventing yet another Red Bull victory amid their season of dominance.
Red Bull star Max Verstappen – who’s all but certain to claim a third successive title when the 2023 campaign comes to an end in November – and team-mate Sergio Perez both endured nightmare qualifying runs on Saturday, finishing 11th and 13th respectively.
With the pair placed low down on the grid ahead of Sunday’s GP, there’s set to be a non-Red Bull winner for the first time this term. During their post-qualifying press conference, Russell, Leclerc and Sainz were all asked whether the Marina Bay circuit offers them the best chance of finally ending Verstappen and Perez’s streak.
“Until now, for sure,” Ferrari’s Leclerc replied. “Because they’ve never been as far as where they are starting now – on a street track also. But as George and Carlos said, we cannot discard them. So let’s see but it’s the best opportunity since the beginning of the season for sure.”
Fellow Ferrari driver Sainz, who claimed pole for the second GP in a row, added: “Yeah, up until now it is for sure,” while Russell agreed: “Yeah. Same.”
Verstappen has struggled all weekend and was heard venting his fury after a disastrous final lap resulted in him being knocked out in Q2. “I don’t know if you saw that, but that was shocking, absolutely shocking experience,” the Dutchman raged.
Having won the last 10 races, Verstappen claims that victory is now out of the question, adding: “For sure not [possible]. It’s like Monaco, you put it all into qualifying so it will be a long, tough afternoon.”
The world champion, who was hoping to lead Red Bull to an unprecedented unbeaten campaign, went on to say: “I knew it would be tough to put it on pole but this I did not expect. We tried a few things on the car for qualifying and that tipped it over and the car became undriveable.”
But Verstappen’s misery isn’t shared by the likes of Sainz, who’s relishing the opportunity to earn a win. “I’m feeling very well with the car and I’m driving very good, probably the best since I’ve been a Ferrari driver and finally I’m extracting my full potential,” the Spaniard beamed.
And I’m happy to see that. I’m happy, too, with the work that I’m doing with my engineers to little by little keep extracting more and more potential and more performance out of the car. And it’s obviously going to give me a lot of confidence moving forward. But yeah, we need to keep working on the race pace.