News Summary
- Max Verstappen will make his 250th Formula 1 Grand Prix start at Singapore, arriving with 72 career victories.
- The Red Bull driver has never won or taken pole at Marina Bay, despite four podiums and three runner-up finishes.
- Verstappen returns after his first victory of 2026 at Sepang, but Singapore presents a different challenge for the improving RB22.
Max Verstappen will reach his 250th Formula 1 Grand Prix start at Singapore this weekend, but the milestone comes at one of the few circuits where the four-time world champion has never won.
The Red Bull driver has collected 72 victories at 26 different circuits during his career. Yet nine previous appearances at Marina Bay have produced four podiums, three second-place finishes and no victories. Singapore is also one of the rare venues where Verstappen has never secured pole position.
The timing is particularly significant because Verstappen arrives immediately after ending his 2026 winless streak at Sepang. He dominated qualifying and won the Bahrain GP in Malaysia, giving Red Bull Ford Powertrains its first Formula 1 victory and extending his personal record to at least one Grand Prix win in every season since joining Red Bull in 2016.
Singapore now offers Verstappen the opportunity to add a 27th winning circuit to his career record, although the RB22 will face a very different test from the one it passed in Malaysia. to complete another milestone by finally adding Singapore to his list of winning venues.
Verstappen has never won or taken pole in Singapore
Verstappen made his Singapore GP debut in 2015, finishing eighth for Toro Rosso during his first Formula 1 season. His first appearance with Red Bull the following year ended in sixth place, before a collision involving Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen eliminated him at the start of the rain-affected 2017 race.
His first Singapore podium came in 2018, when he finished second behind Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen returned to the podium in 2019 with third place, but the next two editions proved considerably less successful: seventh in 2022 and fifth in 2023, when Carlos Sainz ended Red Bull’s record-breaking winning streak.
Verstappen subsequently finished second in both 2024 and 2025, behind Lando Norris and George Russell respectively. Those results gave him consecutive podiums at Marina Bay without ending his wait for a victory.
Max Verstappen’s complete Singapore GP record
| Year | Starting position | Race result |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 8th | 8th |
| 2016 | 4th | 6th |
| 2017 | 2nd | DNF |
| 2018 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 2019 | 4th | 3rd |
| 2022 | 8th | 7th |
| 2023 | 11th | 5th |
| 2024 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 2025 | 2nd | 2nd |
Nine appearances, four podiums, three runner-up finishes, four front-row starts and no pole positions or victories.
The qualifying statistic is particularly notable. Verstappen has started second on four occasions — 2017, 2018, 2024 and 2025 — but has never led the grid at Marina Bay. Track position is especially important on Singapore’s narrow street circuit, where overtaking opportunities are limited.
Verstappen has also led only three racing laps in Singapore across his previous appearances, despite regularly competing near the front.
Red Bull has won Singapore four times — but never with Verstappen
The lack of a Singapore victory is not shared by Red Bull itself.
The team has won four Grands Prix at Marina Bay, with Sebastian Vettel taking three consecutive victories between 2011 and 2013 and Sergio Pérez adding another in difficult wet conditions in 2022.
Verstappen has therefore spent much of his Red Bull career competing at a circuit where the team has already demonstrated its ability to win, but his own attempts have repeatedly fallen short.
The most recent opportunities came against McLaren and Mercedes. Norris controlled the 2024 race from pole, while Russell repeated that achievement in 2025, finishing 5.430 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Singapore’s list of recent winners also illustrates how competitive the venue has become. The last five editions have produced five different winners: Vettel in 2019, Pérez in 2022, Sainz in 2023, Norris in 2024 and Russell in 2025.
Verstappen calls Singapore ‘unfinished business’
Verstappen acknowledged his unusual record ahead of the weekend, describing Singapore as a circuit where he still has unfinished business.
“Singapore is a race that I haven’t won before, so it does feel like unfinished business at this track,” he said.
The Dutchman nevertheless warned that Red Bull’s impressive performance in Malaysia might not translate directly to Marina Bay.
“I think the win was quite track-specific so we will need to see how we go heading into this week,” Verstappen explained.
The concern is understandable. Sepang rewards aerodynamic efficiency, medium and high-speed cornering performance and strong straight-line speed, while Singapore places greater emphasis on low-speed traction, mechanical grip and stability over bumps and kerbs.
Verstappen also highlighted the physical demands of the event, where drivers compete in high temperatures and humidity despite racing at night.
Singapore will therefore provide an important comparison for the RB22 after Red Bull introduced its final major aerodynamic upgrade of 2026 in Azerbaijan.
As GRANDE PRÊMIO examined after Sepang, the improvement appeared to extend beyond Verstappen’s performance, with Isack Hadjar also showing competitive pace throughout the Malaysian weekend.
Singapore offers a new test of Red Bull’s recovery
Red Bull arrives in Singapore after a difficult opening phase of the 2026 season. Verstappen’s Sepang victory was his first of the year, but the team has gradually improved the RB22’s aerodynamic stability and the performance of its new power-unit package.
The Singapore circuit will test whether that development has also addressed the low-speed weaknesses that troubled Verstappen earlier in the championship. A competitive weekend at Marina Bay would provide evidence that Red Bull’s recovery extends beyond circuits with Sepang’s characteristics.
The weekend also creates opportunities through the championship’s sprint format. Singapore hosts its first F1 sprint in 2026, with only one free-practice session before sprint qualifying on Friday. Teams therefore have limited time to find an effective setup, making the RB22’s operating window particularly important.
Mercedes arrives with its own problems. Russell, the defending Singapore GP winner, faces a grid penalty after the engine failure that forced him to retire at Sepang, while the team is still investigating the performance of its latest aerodynamic upgrade.
Mercedes is considering comparing different W17 specifications in Singapore, potentially adding uncertainty to the competitive order.
Ferrari also enters the weekend encouraged by its Malaysian performance, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finishing third and fourth despite their compromised opening strategy.
A 250th Grand Prix with another historical opportunity
Verstappen’s Singapore appearance will make him the latest driver to reach 250 Grand Prix starts, a milestone achieved more than a decade after his Formula 1 debut at the 2015 Australian GP.
During that period, he has won four world championships and established himself as the third-most successful driver in Formula 1 history by Grand Prix victories, behind Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.
His 72nd victory at Sepang also extended his run of winning at least once in every season since joining Red Bull in 2016.
The next opportunity comes at Marina Bay, where he has finished on the podium four times without taking pole or victory. A win would give Verstappen his first Singapore GP triumph and 27th different winning circuit.
The Singapore GP takes place from October 9-11, with the 62-lap Grand Prix starting at 20:00 local time on Sunday.
GRANDE PRÊMIO provides full coverage of the Formula 1 championship throughout the Singapore GP weekend.
F1 today: FAQ
What time is the 2026 Singapore GP?
The Singapore GP starts at 20:00 local time on Sunday, October 11. That is 13:00 in the UK, 08:00 ET in the US and Canada and 17:30 in India. Singapore is a sprint weekend, with sprint qualifying on Friday and the sprint on Saturday.
Why does George Russell have a grid penalty in Singapore?
Russell has exhausted his permitted allocation of four engines after suffering a power-unit failure at Sepang. Mercedes must introduce another unit, triggering a grid penalty for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The penalty does not apply to Saturday’s sprint.
Can Kimi Antonelli win the F1 championship in Singapore?
No. Antonelli leads Russell by 84 points, 320 to 236, but cannot mathematically secure the 2026 title in Singapore. His first opportunity to become world champion comes at the United States GP in Austin.
Why is the Singapore Grand Prix difficult for Verstappen?
Singapore is a slow street circuit that places heavy demands on traction, rear grip, braking and mechanical performance while the extreme heat and humidity add a significant physical challenge. Those characteristics make it a very different test from Sepang, where Verstappen won the previous Grand Prix.
