Verstappen: Qualifying key in Singapore

Max Verstappen expects Red Bull to be back to their best at the Singapore Grand Prix after difficult outings in Spa-Francorchamps and Monza checked their resurgence, but reckons the qualifying session on Saturday will be key to how the weekend goes.

Verstappen went into the summer break as arguably the form driver on the grid after winning in Austria and Germany and narrowly missing out to Lewis Hamilton in Hungary.

Coming out of the shutdown with two of the most power-hungry events on the schedule has held Red Bull back, however, with team-mate Alexander Albon's fifth-place finish in Belgium representing their best result in the past two races.

Verstappen retired in Spa after a collision at the first corner, before seeing a fight through the field at Monza hampered by another early crash as he finished eighth.

However, at least one Red Bull has been on the Marina Bay podium each year since 2010 and Verstappen hopes to match, or better, last year's second-place finish in Singapore.

He said: "Singapore is a great track and the city looks amazing at night. I enjoy driving under the floodlights as it gives more character to the track and I really like this kind of weekend as it's so different to a normal race.

"The track is very demanding – it's hot, it's physical and you sweat a lot, but it's one of my favourites.

"You have a lot of corners that are a mix of high and low speed, plus some medium speed corners that have little run-off, so it's a very diverse circuit.

"It's also a race where we tend to do better than say, Monza and Spa. I finished second there last year so hopefully we can have another good weekend.

"Overtaking is very tricky so qualifying is the key, you have to nail it! I'm looking forward to having a more normal race weekend and hopefully not starting out of position again which always makes things more difficult.

"We're aiming for maximum points and I'm really looking forward to it."

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