F1, Verstappen can already win The driver: “We need a lot of luck”

First match point in Singapore. Sainz: “We’ll give him a hard time”

the character

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Just the right amount of luck and a beastly physique to withstand the heat and humidity of Singapore. Max Verstappen knows that in Marina Bay he can already become world champion, but also that an ideal situation is needed to celebrate with a few GPs in advance: with the prohibitive climate (the pilots lose up to 3 kg due to heat) and opponents ready to put a spanner in the works, the Dutchman from Red Bull does not have too many illusions. «I don’t really think about the championship – said Verstappen, winner of 11 races out of 16 in 2022, the last five in a row -. I just want to enjoy the weekend and obviously try to win the race. I need a lot of luck for that to happen here, so I don’t really count on it. ‘

On the track of Marina Bay he returns after three seasons and offers the match point to the Dutchman, who reiterates that he needs many factors in his favor to celebrate: “In the meantime, I have to win, Perez must finish fourth or more behind and Leclerc from eighth down. So it’s a bit unrealistic for that to happen, I don’t really think about it. ”

Rather Verstappen is thinking about qualifying, because pole is crucial on a track where overtaking is difficult: “In the race this year we have always been good, but here the performance on the lap counts”. The Dutchman has never won in Singapore: it is considered the most demanding race on the calendar, even for the extreme weather conditions. “We haven’t been to Singapore for a while, so it will be interesting to see how the track has evolved,” added Verstappen, who is 116 points ahead of Leclerc after his win at Monza, and 125 over Perez, third in the standings. He must reach +138 points to secure his first world victory since Michael Schumacher won in 2002 with six GPs to spare for the championship. “I am very focused on this weekend, I don’t think about the rest,” added the leader of the drivers’ standings.

Ferrari for its part can only try to delay the celebrations. For other objectives, please refer again. «Do they say that we are competitive here? I would say Red Bull is too. However we want to give them a hard time »admitted Carlos Sainz. «Here, if you are ahead in the race, you have more opportunities to end with a victory, for example compared to Monza – the Ferrari driver underlined -. Classification? It is not that we are looking at Mercedes, rather we want to return to victory. We must not have a worse pace than Mercedes and fight with Red Bull ». In the night test, between heat, bumps, and a few straights, anything can happen. –