News Summary
- Max Verstappen credited the characteristics of Red Bull’s 2026 car for his breakthrough pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix.
- The Dutchman said the new regulations have changed where the RB22 is strongest through corners compared with previous Red Bull cars.
- Verstappen secured his 50th career F1 pole, beating Charles Leclerc by 0.054s and Lewis Hamilton by 0.123s.
Max Verstappen has explained how Formula 1’s 2026 regulations have changed Red Bull’s performance characteristics, helping him secure his first Singapore Grand Prix pole position after years of struggling to match his rivals at Marina Bay.
The four-time world champion set a 1:31.373 during Saturday’s qualifying session, beating Charles Leclerc by just 0.054s and Lewis Hamilton by 0.123s. The result marked his 50th career pole and ended Red Bull’s 13-year wait for pole at Singapore, where Sebastian Vettel had last achieved the feat in 2013.
Verstappen had already won Saturday’s rain-affected sprint, completing an impressive weekend for a Red Bull team that has shown considerable improvement during the second half of the season.
Verstappen explains how 2026 regulations changed Red Bull’s strengths
Singapore has traditionally been a difficult circuit for Verstappen, particularly during previous regulation cycles when Red Bull’s cars were more competitive through other types of corners.
Asked why the team had suddenly become so competitive at Marina Bay, the Dutchman pointed to the different characteristics of the current generation of Formula 1 cars.
“Yeah, new regulations and I think our car now works a bit different compared to the previous regulation where we’re stronger in different areas of a corner but yeah we take it,” Verstappen said.
“I mean we have been really on a positive trend you know so it’s for us I think very special to take a pole here.”
The 2026 regulations introduced major changes to aerodynamics and power units, altering how teams generate performance and manage energy throughout a lap.
Red Bull’s recent improvement has allowed Verstappen to challenge at circuits with different characteristics, including Sepang and Singapore.
The Dutchman had previously admitted that Singapore continued to expose weaknesses in the RB22, but the car proved competitive enough to secure both sprint and Grand Prix pole positions.
Verstappen admits Singapore qualifying was extremely close
Verstappen acknowledged that Ferrari had been a serious threat throughout the session, with Hamilton topping Q1 and Q2 before Leclerc emerged as the closest challenger in Q3.
“It was good, just very close. The margins are very close I think between us throughout the whole of qualifying so of course very happy to be on pole because this is of course the one that I wanted. So yeah very happy,” Verstappen said.
“I mean 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.”
The Dutchman had set the fastest lap during Friday’s sprint qualifying before winning Saturday’s race ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc.
His Grand Prix pole completed another important achievement, extending his run of consecutive poles after qualifying fastest at Sepang the previous weekend.
As GRANDE PRÊMIO reported in the complete Singapore qualifying results, Verstappen secured first place ahead of the two Ferrari drivers, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli fourth.
Red Bull ends 13-year Singapore pole drought
Verstappen’s result also ended a long wait for Red Bull at Marina Bay.
The team’s previous Singapore pole had come in 2013 with Sebastian Vettel, who went on to win that year’s Grand Prix.
Verstappen had never previously qualified on pole for the Singapore Grand Prix, despite multiple podium finishes at the circuit.
Saturday’s performance therefore made him only the second Red Bull driver to take Grand Prix pole at Marina Bay, joining Vettel.
The result also marked his 50th career Formula 1 pole, placing him alongside Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Vettel as the only five drivers to have reached the milestone.
GRANDE PRÊMIO has detailed Verstappen’s place among the all-time F1 pole position leaders.
The updated Singapore GP schedule, including Sunday’s race time is available in GRANDE PRÊMIO, which follows the latest Formula 1 news throughout the Singapore GP weekend.
