Red Bull was able to prove that it unlocks car performance across various circuit types at the Singapore Grand Prix pace.
Max Verstappen fought for pole position, starting in the front row of Singapore, staying close to race-winning George Russell, keeping Randnoris at bay. When defeating both McLarens on the high-downforce circuit, the Mekies say Red Bull proved their victory in two previous races – at the low-downforce venue, it’s not simply due to the characteristics of the track.
“For us, that means a lot because we can certainly fight for victory here,” Mekies said. “Monza, after Baku, it was very different. You never know until you come to the high downforce track.
“So we were able to get into the right rhythm from Friday. We went into the right rhythm in qualifying. It was very, very, very, close to the pole. And we were in the right rhythm in the race.
“This is good news. It means that unlocking the lock isn’t just the low that is inherent in downforce. The approach remains the same. I keep taking it with each race. I’ll continue to learn.
“Perhaps there is a considerable amount of learning we can make from this race about smaller pockets of performance that we may be able to unlock in the future.
“I think Austin will again be a very different equation. McLaren will also return to the famous mid-speed corner where it was very strong here.
Despite strong results, Verstappen was not completely satisfied with the handling of the car during the race in Singapore.
“From the perspective of a single problem in the race, I can’t tell you,” he said. “It was very hard. We started with soft tires. We were one of the only cars in the top 10… And we obviously tried to maximize our chances of getting George first, but that didn’t happen.
“As a result, we were able to pit before and push the hard tires very hard, filling the gap, but what that means is that Max was defending with tires older than his instant competition.
“So the good news is that he did an amazing job of getting the car back to second place despite the pressure from the Rand. And yet, I think there are probably some things we need to work on, some things that were hindering him during the race, but they probably qualify them as lower.”
