Gary Anderson ‘surprised’ by what he’s seen on Max Verstappen’s Red Bull at the Singapore Grand Prix

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Red Bull are not resting on their laurels in a bid to keep Max Verstappen in the 2025 F1 drivers’ title fight, having brought upgrades to the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend.

The 2026 F1 regulations have been the priority for most teams for months owing to the vast changes on the horizon next season for the engine, chassis, aerodynamic and tyre rules. But Red Bull have kept developing the RB21 to hand Verstappen a potential title-challenging car.

Verstappen is third in the F1 drivers’ championship ahead of the Singapore GP. But his back-to-back wins in Monza and Baku have cut the 28-year-old’s 104-point deficit to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri from 104 points before the Italian Grand Prix to 69 points prior to round 18/24.

Piastri set the pace in FP2 for the Singapore GP on Friday, but Verstappen was third and just 0.143 seconds shy. Verstappen was also third in FP1, as he looks to win the Singapore GP for the first time with Marina Bay the only race on the 2025 F1 calendar that he has never won.

Gary Anderson ‘surprised’ Max Verstappen did not run a Gurney flap in Singapore Grand Prix practice

Verstappen made the most of the front wing upgrade that Red Bull have brought to Marina Bay to rank third in the first and second practice sessions for the Singapore GP. But the four-time reigning champion’s decision to run without a Gurney flap “surprised” Gary Anderson.

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Red Bull claim that their new front wing features locally increased cambers to extract more load, with Anderson noticing changes to the location of the slot gap separators. The tweaks are minor, but might have let Red Bull give Verstappen a car that does not have understeer.

He told The Race: “It’s difficult to pick up those subtle profile changes. But what is very clear is that Red Bull have moved the two slot gap separators further outboard. The rear flap trailing edge trim line is from the same family as it was at Zandvoort, Monza and Baku.

“However, interestingly, there is no Gurney flap added to the trailing edge of the rear flap, as there was for the Zandvoort wing. It’s a surprise, given Max is a driver who hates understeer, that he’s not using the Gurney flap.

“That means Red Bull must have been able to produce the front-end grip he requires in the slow and medium speed corners from those changes to the front wing geometry, or it could be from some other part of the car specification or set-up.”

Red Bull’s Singapore GP front wing upgrade could be huge for Max Verstappen’s 2025 title bid

Verstappen hates driving a car that suffers an extreme amount of understeer, as the 67-time Grand Prix winner likes a car that reacts to his inputs on turn-in as he can deal with how the rear-end reacts. So, Red Bull tend to set Verstappen’s car up in a way that favours oversteer.

So, the lack of a Gurney flap on Verstappen’s RB21 during practice, plus his pace in FP1 and FP2, suggests Red Bull’s new front wing upgrade for the Singapore GP has indeed improved his car’s front-end grip. The upgrade potentially working at Marina Bay could even be huge.

If the RB21 is a podium-contending car in Sunday’s Singapore GP, then Verstappen’s hopes to win his fifth consecutive drivers’ title will grow. Jacques Villeneuve thinks Verstappen can win the 2025 drivers’ title, but how Red Bull perform in the Singapore GP is his “only worry”.