Max Verstappen Fails to Equal McLaren’s Prestigious 11 Win Record After Disastrous Outing at Singapore GP

For the past four months, this is how a Formula 1 race day has played out: It starts with David Croft’s trademark, “It’s light’s out, and away we go!” No matter what happened in the 305km between that and the last lap, it ended with Crofty saying, “Max Verstappen wins the Grand Prix!” Four months. 10 races. Max Verstappen on the top step of the podium. It was a glorious, record-breaking streak. It was. But just like all good things inevitably end, all streaks break at some point. And that point for Verstappen was the Singapore GP.

Returning to the Marina Bay Circuit was always going to be tricky for Red Bull. After Sergio Perez’s heroics last year, Red Bull could’ve only hoped for a repeat. In 1988, McLaren—as a team—won 11 races in a row. While Red Bull surpassed that four races ago, Verstappen had a chance to equal that record in Singapore. As a driver. How remarkable is that? But it just wasn’t meant to be.

Max Verstappen accepted defeat even before the lights went out

The RB19 is, without a doubt, the fastest car on the grid. The Milton-Keynes squad’s 15-race winning streak is proof of that. But even the most dominant car has its weaknesses. The Marina Bay Circuit’s slow- and medium-speed corners were the RB19’s Achilles’ heel. Gearing up for the weekend, Verstappen already knew it was going to be a tough one. He wouldn’t have expected it to be as “shocking” as it was, though.

Right from the first session in Singapore, the Red Bull drivers were finding it hard to get a grip on their RB19s. It all unraveled in qualifying when AlphaTauri super-sub Liam Lawson sent the Dutchman packing in Q2. Lining up on the grid in P11, the reigning champion had already accepted defeat to history. In an interview with Autosport, he said, “You can forget about [continuing the winning streak]. Here, you need to be two or three seconds faster to have a chance to pass. And so that’s just street circuit stuff.”

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He predicted that, and that’s what happened. For the first time in a long time, Red Bull had to opt for an offset tire strategy because it wasn’t dictating the race. Starting on Hard tires, Red Bull hoped to make ground on a long first stint. Following an early Safety Car, the Dutchman couldn’t have done much to avoid losing out to everyone on the conventional tire strategy. Despite starting in P11, he managed to make—in proper Verstappen fashion—quite a few good overtakes and finished what would be a disappointing fifth for him. He gave it everything. It just wasn’t meant to be. McLaren’s record might’ve been beaten by Red Bull, but Verstappen fell just short. One thing is for certain, though: Verstappen’s 10 will go down in history as one of the best runs ever.

Max Verstappen’s record will stick on Wikipedia

Last time out in Monza, Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 9-race win streak. He tore apart the record books with a magnificent 10. Instead of appreciating his dominance, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff said, “[Mercedes’] situation was a little bit different because we had two guys fighting against each other within the team. Those numbers are for Wikipedia. Nobody reads that anyway.” Considering Mercedes had its own period of dominance, you would’ve thought Wolff would be happy for Red Bull. Well, that obviously wasn’t the case.

The Singapore GP will be the first weekend this season that won’t feature Verstappen on The Max Verstappen Podcast in the cool-down room. But that’s beside the point. What needs to be appreciated is the incredible run Verstappen and Red Bull had. It was one for the ages. No matter what Wolff or anyone else thinks, those numbers matter. And Max Verstappen’s Wikipedia page will have this record etched for a long time: “Most consecutive race wins (10).”

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What were your thoughts on the Singapore GP? Were you sad that Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s run came to an end?