The story of how Max Verstappen proved Carlos Sainz was ‘too slow’ as rookie teammates in Singapore

Follow us on Google Discover

Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers in Formula 1, but the Singapore Grand Prix is the one race on the calendar in 2025 that the Red Bull racer has never won to date.

The Dutchman has dominated at several circuits over the years, including taking five Mexico City Grand Prix wins at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. He even boasts five wins at the Red Bull Ring, having taken four Austrian Grand Prix wins and one Styrian Grand Prix victory.

Yet Verstappen did not master Marina Bay over any of his first eight races on the city streets. The four-time reigning F1 drivers’ championship winner has also only penned three podiums across his previous outings at the Singapore GP with P2 in 2018, P3 in 2019 and P2 in 2024.

Max Verstappen ‘was right’ to reject Toro Rosso’s team order to let Carlos Sainz through in the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix

Verstappen’s first Singapore GP entry while a rookie racing for Toro Rosso in 2015 also saw a smidge of controversy, as the Dutchman refused an order to help his then-teammate, Carlos Sainz. Yet Franz Tost admitted Verstappen “was right”, as he proved Toro Rosso were wrong.

READ MORE: Five unforgettable Singapore GP from Crashgate to Ferrari vs Max Verstappen

Toro Rosso sensed a chance for Sainz to catch Sergio Perez of Force India for P7 during the closing stages of the 2015 Singapore GP. So, the team told Verstappen to let Sainz through, having also pitted the Spaniard for new soft tyres on Lap 37/61 after the Dutchman on L36.

But Verstappen notoriously barked “no” when his engineer made the request, and stuck to his guns to finish ahead of Sainz for P8 and P9 in the 2015 Singapore GP. Sainz finished just 1.410s behind Verstappen, who hit the chequered flag 0.614s adrift as Perez held on to P7.

Tost, then-Toro Rosso’s team principal, defended Verstappen’s refusal to give P8 to Sainz after the 2015 Singapore GP. He argued the Dutchman showed the Spaniard was “too slow” to overtake Perez, despite the promise of Sainz yielding the place back if he did not take P7.

“Carlos had new tyres, therefore we thought we could switch positions,” Tost told Sky Sports after the 2015 Singapore GP. “But then Carlos was too slow, he was too far behind and Max was right.

“[Verstappen] saw that Carlos was not closing up, and Carlos could not have caught Perez, so we were right to let them go.

“Carlos was always a minimum of three to five tenths [of a second] behind. If he wants us to swap the positions, he must be closer to him, or it doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t have caught Perez.”

Max Verstappen recovered from a pit lane start to finish the 2015 Singapore GP in P8

Sainz was the man on the charge toward the end of the 2015 Singapore GP, to convince Toro Rosso to issue their order for Verstappen to let the Madrid native through and enjoy at least a chance to attack Perez. Yet Sainz never got the opportunity that Toro Rosso felt he earned.

Instead, Sainz had to try to attack Verstappen, which meant he lost more performance from his soft compound tyres that could have been used to secure Toro Rosso a stronger result. It also set a tone for how Verstappen would treat his Formula 1 career over the next 10 years.

Verstappen was single-minded in his approach to secure the best result he could, regardless of how it impacted his teammate. Even though the Dutchman would have lost at worst two points had Sainz overtaken Perez, he was not prepared to offer the Spaniard any advantage.

Finishing P9 instead of P8 would have also taken a small amount of the shine away from the recovery drive that Verstappen delivered during the 2015 Singapore GP, having started from the pit lane instead of P8 on the grid after his Renault engine stalled before the race started.