Verstappen Finally Conquers Singapore to Complete Career Sweep
SINGAPORE - Max Verstappen has won it all and done it all in Formula 1. Until this weekend, he'd just never done it in Singapore. That changed in commanding fashion at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where the Red Bull driver swept sprint pole, the sprint race, grand prix pole and, finally, Sunday's main event - leading every lap for his 73rd career win in his 250th grand prix start.
Since debuting in 2015, Verstappen has collected four world championships, yet Marina Bay remained the one circuit where the record books showed a gap. He had won everywhere else on the current calendar bar Spain's Madring, added only this year. Fans tracking the sport through platforms built for race-day analysis - the kind of detailed coverage you might find via a site like allowflash - had long flagged Singapore as Verstappen's statistical blind spot, a curiosity given his dominance elsewhere. site like allowflash
The win also marked back-to-back victories, following his triumph last weekend at Sepang, and further evidence that Red Bull's Baku aerodynamic upgrade has transformed the RB22 into a genuine frontrunner. "It was a bit of a relief to win here," Verstappen said afterward. "When you win for the first time on a track, it's always very special and nice."
A Long-Standing Blind Spot, Finally Closed
Verstappen had come close before - three runner-up finishes, a 2017 clash with the Ferraris that ended his race on lap one, and a 2022 qualifying fuel error that wrecked a promising weekend. Even at the peak of his 2022-2024 dominance, Singapore eluded him. He has long admitted discomfort on street circuits compared to permanent tracks, and it was former teammate Sergio Pérez, not Verstappen, who was considered Red Bull's street-track specialist during that stretch. In 2023, Singapore was the only round all season Red Bull failed to win - Verstappen's sole blip between two long winning streaks.
Beating Leclerc Off the Line
Charles Leclerc got the better start on Sunday, reacting 0.04 seconds faster as Verstappen's Red Bull again struggled with a suspected power-deployment issue. With Leclerc threatening to seize the lead into Turn 1, Verstappen held his line around the outside, forcing the Ferrari driver to back out rather than risk contact. "I was only here to win, so I had to do everything I could to make sure it was very difficult for Charles to go deep into the corner," Verstappen explained. From there, he controlled the race, extending his advantage through the middle stint and withstanding a late Ferrari push on fresher soft tyres after a virtual safety car period.
Momentum Building Toward 2027
With the radio system malfunctioning all weekend - turning Verstappen's voice into a garbled stutter - engineer GianPiero Lambiase resorted to steering-wheel switches for communication. Lambiase, who will join McLaren by the end of next year, made a rare podium appearance afterward, a moment that visibly meant something to both men given their long working relationship.
The championship picture remains settled elsewhere: Kimi Antonelli leads by 119 points with 150 still available, a gap built largely before Red Bull's upgrade arrived. But over the last three races, Verstappen has scored 76 of a possible 83 points, outpacing Antonelli by 28 in that span. George Russell, beaten in both Sepang and Singapore, suggested post-race that Red Bull may now have the fastest car on the grid. For Verstappen, the title fight is over for 2026 - but the final six rounds look increasingly like a platform for next season's ambitions.
