“That is what happens when there is a car in front of you, just sailing two seconds in front. So that will be noted. Will also be reminded.” Max Verstappen was not happy at the end of the qualification, because he had the feeling that he was negatively influenced in the last sector by Lando Norris who slowly returned to the pits after his own final round.
Norris was led early, a sign of McLaren’s perilous situation in the light of an increasing challenge of external threats, while Verstappen was the last car on the road and eventually turned off his attempt after having just been 0.02s on George Russell’s pile time that turned 16/17 Chicane in the final stages.
The complaints of Verstappen have not received much in the way of sympathy when he is heard by Norris.
“They always complain – they complain about everything,” said Norris. “That’s Red Bull. I didn’t even know. I was three seconds ahead or something. I can’t work it out either.”
It was hardly a word of words, but it was a touch of needle between two drivers that we can increasingly describe is in the title fight with the way in which the competitive image is on its way.
McLaren is in defensive mode, as it was in Baku, and so Norris first went out for his last Q3 run to prevent potential yellow or red flags. As it was, he could not improve his fifth place in the grid.
Red Bull, on the other hand, can afford it much more aggressively. With Verstappen 69 points behind Oscar Piastri and 44 Adrift from Norris, the Opplore of the McLarens is absolutely necessary, and with an improved car and a considerable shortage to overcome, it has nothing to lose and to win everything. So Verstappen was the last one on the road and risked that his last round was interrupted in exchange for the possible reward of the highest evolution of the track.
Piastri went just before Verstappen and was satisfied, because Norris remains his nearest threat and he will start two positions for his teammate. But he will again stand behind the Red Bull Driver, on a song where Red Bull was not sure that he was competitive.
“The last three weekends were really, very nice,” said Verstappen. “Until that moment we always threw the set -up on the left and right because it just didn’t work. Sometimes you had a weekend where it was ok, but now, the last three weekends, it was solid.
“We have just been refined, and that is exactly what you want all weekend. Of course some layouts will be a little better for us, some will probably be a bit more difficult, but the base of the car is a lot Solider, and I think you need it.”
On Thursday, Verstappen warned that the last High-Downforce-Circuit-Zandvoort-Niet had not been promising for Red Bull. But so far this weekend is already proof of a package that McLaren can beat on a song that dominated Norris last year.
There are a number of factors in the game that has recently been making a rougher road for McLaren, says Team Head Andrea Stella. Sam Bloxham/Getty images
According to the McLaren Team Head Andrea Stella, that shift came into the competitive image through a combination of factors, including a weakness in the MCL39.
“Our reflection is more general in terms of our competitiveness and it is related to the fact that I generally think that there were some cars that were faster today than we were, and in particular Mercedes and Red Bull,” Stella said. “And we seem to observe a pattern after we have been to Baku and then here in Singapore, that looks like what we have seen in Canada. And when we brake with bumps and with curbs, in Canada, we were not the best car, we were not the best car in Baku, and in Singapore we are not the best car.
“So this is not a surprise from a technical point of view, because we know in what circumstances we are developing our car. It is actually important information, even when considering how we can better develop our car, so that we also absorb those conditions. But in general I think we see that we have won the time in the middle of the corner, but every middle horn is a bit too short.
‘[Singapore] is dominated by brakes and traction, and with bumps and curbs we just seem to suffer a bit. So I think that during the qualification, and during the entire event we saw that Mercedes was able to put together a number of very competitive sectors, maximum the same, and our drivers made comments that even resembled themselves on Baku’s comments and the comments of Canada. So just we are not the most competitive. ‘
Stella also sees the front field closing because of the updates that are brought by rival teams in recent rounds, while the McLaren program had previously been completely eliminated.
“If there was something, there were small parts that we took to Monza, but otherwise we simply concentrated for a long time at 2026, while we see that some competitors still brought a new upgrades to the upgrades, and Red Bull is certainly one of those,” said Stella.
“They have a new front wing here, had a new floor in Monza and we had to wait a few races at low-downforce [tracks] Just like Monza and Baku, and then to determine that there is also a pattern from a technical point of view. I think one is the pattern of brakes with bumps and curbs, and the other is with the low downforce as we saw in Monza and Baku. So there are a few factors that are combined, I think.
“There is certainly the fact that we have not developed the car for a long time, and some track properties. Having said that, I would expect Austin to still be a bit of a struggle for us, because the corners are tight in many brake areas. Our tracks still remain Brazil, Qatar, Abu Dhabi.
“Maybe earlier in the season, when we had a little more benefit, we could go better in some other circuits, but as I said, some competitors continued to develop their car or better understand how to use their car, so now the field has become even more competitive.”
Despite those factors, and the fact that Stella believes that McLaren will get more and more pressure from Verstappen in the rest of this season, the Italian is planning to make this not a burden for his team.
“It is interesting for everyone to see what Red Bull could do in a circuit for a few reasons,” he said. “One is that they were competitive in Monza, very competitive, and then they were competitive in Baku, and we thought:” Let’s see if this depends on the use of a low level of resistance, small rear wings and it can be repeated at a high level and large rear wings. ” And the second reason is that they may have struggled a bit here in Singapore in the past.
“Well, the proof is that they may have solved both factors with high drag and singapore, but this is not a surprise. It is Red Bull, they are extremely capable, Max is a driver who is normal, Max Verstappen, I don’t think we have to make even more comments, so it is no surprise that they are in the game. It is clear and it is interesting.
“Of course we want to make Formula 1 boring, and we have sometimes done it at some of the events, but normal Formula 1 is competitive, it’s tight. You have to accept the fight, and that’s what we do.”
A positive look for now, but in the heat of Singapore on Sunday evening, Stella will have to ensure that his McLaren team Koel remains in the middle of Verstappen’s challenge. Another dent when it comes to the lead of Piastri and the momentum will really shift.
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