Max Verstappen still doubts fifth title chances

Max Verstappen’s second place in Singapore kept his faint title hopes alive and confirmed that Red Bull’s post-Christian Horner resurgence now extends beyond low-downforce circuits.

Although his streak of poles and wins at Baku and Monza came to an end, finishing ahead of both McLaren drivers was viewed as another major step forward.

“We didn’t win the race, but we did finish ahead of both McLarens. That’s a huge success for us,” said Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko. For Red Bull, Singapore has traditionally been one of its weakest venues, yet Verstappen again outpaced Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

“We’re fast on every track now,” Marko added. “We’re back at the front of the field. Oscar Piastri’s lead is still considerable, but we’ll just keep fighting.”

The standings now show Piastri on 336 points, Norris on 314, and Verstappen on 273, with six races remaining. McLaren expects to rebound at upcoming circuits that better suit its car. Team boss Andrea Stella said Austin may still be challenging but expects improvement later in the run-in.

“I would expect that Austin will still be a bit of a struggle for us because the corners are tight in many braking areas,” he said. “Our tracks still remain the likes of Brazil, Qatar, Abu Dhabi.

“Perhaps earlier in the season, when we had a bit more advantage, we could cope better with some other circuits, but now the field has become even more competitive. Red Bull seems to have solved both its high-drag and Singapore factors, but they are extremely capable. It’s no surprise they are in the game.”

Verstappen admitted the title remains a long shot despite beating both McLarens for the third race in a row. “We should have won for that,” he said. “You have to dominate, and we’re not doing that, or at least not this weekend.

"We’re not closing the gap enough. We really should have won today for that, and we didn’t. That’s just the way it is. We simply lost far too many points at the start of the season.”