Max Verstappen is targeting his first Formula 1 victory at the Singapore Grand Prix after finally ending his 2026 win drought with a dominant weekend at Sepang. The four-time world champion arrives at Marina Bay in confident mood but admits he still has “unfinished business” at a circuit where he has never won.
The Singapore Grand Prix, which will also feature a Sprint, concludes the current triple-header and presents Red Bull with an immediate opportunity to discover whether the performance that produced victory in Malaysia can be carried onto a very different type of circuit.
Max Verstappen ends 2026 win drought at Sepang
At the most recent Bahrain Grand Prix, held at Sepang, Max Verstappen finally removed a burden that had followed him since the beginning of the championship: the possibility of completing the 2026 season without a victory.
The Red Bull driver achieved the breakthrough at the end of a weekend he had dominated from qualifying onwards. His attention now turns to Singapore, one of the circuits still missing from his Formula 1 list of victories.
Max Verstappen targets first Singapore Grand Prix win
That statistic is clearly on Max Verstappen’s mind only days before racing around Marina Bay.
“Winning in Malaysia was an incredible feeling and a very proud moment for the team, as it was our first victory as a power-unit manufacturer,” Max Verstappen said. “It was a milestone we had been waiting a long time for and a special success for everyone.
“We’re simply trying to continue improving the car race by race and hopefully we can maintain this form in Singapore, which concludes this run of three consecutive races.
“I think the victory was helped by the specific characteristics of the circuit, so we’ll have to see how things go this week. I really enjoy this street circuit: it has a lot of corners and is quite bumpy.
“The heat is obviously an important factor, although at least this time we’re racing at night. I’ve never won in Singapore, so I feel I have some unfinished business with this circuit.”
The different characteristics of Marina Bay mean Red Bull cannot automatically assume its Sepang competitiveness will transfer to Singapore, particularly with the demanding street layout, bumps and high temperatures creating a very different technical challenge. The full 2026 Singapore Grand Prix Sprint schedule also leaves teams with limited preparation time before competitive running begins.
Isack Hadjar looks to reset after fifth place in Malaysia
While Max Verstappen targets his first Singapore victory, team-mate Isack Hadjar will be hoping to recover from a Malaysian weekend that did not meet his expectations. The Frenchman eventually finished fifth at Sepang.
“In the end, the race in Malaysia didn’t go exactly as I had hoped, but it was a great result for the team and a special moment for everyone involved,” Isack Hadjar said.
“The advantage of a triple-header is that you immediately move on to the next event and can reset straight away: that’s how I’ve always worked.
“I’m really looking forward to racing in Singapore; it’s one of my favourite circuits on the calendar and night races have a really special atmosphere.
“The conditions here are always extremely tough, but thanks to the experience I gained last year and even last week in Malaysia, it’s not something that concerns me.
“If we can make use of the performance we had in Baku and what we learned in Malaysia, we should have a positive weekend.”
Singapore will therefore provide an immediate test of how transferable Red Bull’s recent progress really is. For Max Verstappen, it also offers the chance to add a first Marina Bay victory immediately after securing his long-awaited first win of the 2026 season.
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