Max Verstappen claims pole for Red Bull at F1 Singapore Grand Prix

SINGAPORE – A solitary win is all Max Verstappen has to show for the 2026 Formula 1 season, a paltry number by the four-time world champion’s lofty standards.

So when the Red Bull driver arrived in Singapore this week – a stop where he has yet to win in nine attempts – few would have tipped him to turn the tide here.

But Verstappen’s rivals know better than to write him off.

Time and again, the tenacious Dutchman has defied the odds, finding another gear when it matters most, just as he did in the 2025 season when he ended the campaign with six victories in the last nine races.

On Oct 10, his racing mettle was on display again as he claimed his first pole position at the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix to put himself in prime position for a long-awaited victory.

Verstappen topped the timesheets in 1min 31.373sec at the 4.927km Marina Bay Street Circuit, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc just 0.054sec behind in second and Lewis Hamilton, who looked to be the favourite after setting the pace in Q1 and Q2, third fastest.

It was the 50th pole of Verstappen’s career and capped a dominant Saturday for the Red Bull driver, who won the first-ever sprint race in Singapore earlier in the day in wet conditions.

Verstappen said: “Of course, I’m very happy to be on pole because this is the one I wanted. The car has been pretty strong all weekend. Of course there are always things you can look into to be better, but it was enough for pole.

“New regulations and our car works a bit differently compared with previous regulations. We’re stronger in different areas of a corner, but we take it. We’ve been on a positive turn, so for us, it’s very special to take a pole here.”

Known for his unfiltered “Dutch honesty”, the 29-year-old left the media in giggles at the press conference later in the evening when he was asked what a 50th career pole meant to him.

“Better than 49, not as good as 51 so I just try and keep going,” he said with a straight face.

In qualifying on Oct 10, championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes and teammate George Russell finished fourth and sixth, although the latter will start from the back because of a grid penalty. McLaren’s Lando Norris was fifth and teammate Oscar Piastri seventh.

On Oct 11, on his 250th race start, Verstappen will be gunning for one of the few races that he has never won, despite coming close twice after finishing second in 2024 and 2025. 

The Red Bull driver’s patience finally paid off last weekend, when he clinched his first victory in 16 races in the 2026 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sepang, Malaysia.

He has clearly carried that form into this weekend, winning the first-ever sprint race in Singapore.

He said after the sprint: “We just tried to bring it home and, of course, happy to win here in the sprint. But I also know that I want to win tomorrow.

“I don’t see this as a win in terms of actually winning a grand prix... We just need to try to make sure we are the best one out of them, but it will be hopefully a good battle.”

The night race in Singapore has been won from pole position 11 times out of 16 editions and in three consecutive editions since 2023.

The 2025 edition was won by Russell, who clinched pole in qualifying then, with Verstappen finishing in second and Norris rounding up the podium.

If Verstappen finishes on the top of the podium, he will become the seventh different winner in Singapore in as many editions since 2018. The 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mercedes’ Antonelli currently leads the drivers’ championship with 325 points, 89 points ahead of teammate Russell, with Hamilton a further 15 points back in third.

Verstappen is fifth with 196 points.