Max Verstappen will love what McLaren were ‘admitting’ immediately after the Singapore Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen will have been delighted to leave the Singapore Grand Prix with second place to show for his efforts.

The Asian circuit does not play to Red Bull’s strengths and has been somewhere the team have struggled for some time. Before the weekend, they knew that a good result was going to be necessary to keep any slender drivers’ championship hopes alive.

Despite late pressure from Lando Norris, Verstappen was able to hold on, giving his rival just one opportunity to get alongside his car in the second half of the race. Second place was fair at the Singapore Grand Prix, considering that George Russell in the Mercedes had some electric pace.

Verstappen called the race ‘difficult’ to manage after adopting a different strategy compared to the majority of those around him. Verstappen made Russell ‘nervous’ with his choice, but pre-race rain killed any advantage the Dutchman could have gained at the start.

READ MORE: Christian Horner could ‘make a new Red Bull’ by bringing Max Verstappen with him to 568-point F1 team

Max Verstappen will love McLaren ‘admitting’ they expected to go quicker in Singapore

McLaren may need to be brutal against Verstappen, according to the views of Ralf Schumacher. He thinks that one of their drivers must be sacrificed to help defend against the threat of a late charge from the Red Bull driver.

It’s important to remember that Red Bull are still developing the RB21, too. McLaren have been focused on the 2026 F1 regulations for a while now, and it might have just given their rivals the slightest sniff at an opportunity to win again.

Formula 1 journalist Julianne Cerasoli reports that McLaren have ‘admitted’ they expected to go quicker in Singapore. Their lack of explanation is something that Verstappen will love heading into the last six races of the season.

“McLaren itself is already admitting it,” she said. “They thought they would perform much better than they did in this race. They’re already admitting it. Red Bull improved the car.

“It’s not just a matter of – Track A and Track B, OK? On a track like Singapore, we can’t utilise the great qualities of our car.

“Basically, the corners are too short here in Singapore for McLaren to utilise all of its qualities. But they stopped developing the car a long time ago, Red Bull hasn’t stopped, and we’re seeing this growth, which is truly real.”

READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya explains why Formula 1 fans have now started to ‘like’ Max Verstappen

What does Max Verstappen need to do to be in F1 title contention in Abu Dhabi

Although Verstappen may be ‘afraid of’ Red Bull for 2026, his task will be made a lot easier if he can continue to build some momentum heading into the winter.

Just a few months ago, during the summer break, it looked as though his team were heading towards rock bottom. Upgrades continued to fail, and a new management was going to take time to take effect.

It’s a credit to Laurent Mekies’ leadership that the team have managed to turn things around so quickly, and are back in contention for victories.

Their power unit is a big question for next year, but there’s plenty of experience within the Milton Keynes-based outfit to at least make them competitive, which is all their superstar driver can ask for.