Max Verstappen reflects on ‘incredibly messy’ weekend in Singapore after P7 finish

Verstappen endured a difficult weekend after a qualifying mix-up and mistakes during Sunday’s rain-hit race

Max Verstappen described his weekend in Singapore as “incredibly messy” after mistakes in qualifying and in Sunday’s chaotic rain-hit Grand Prix.

The World Championship leader could have sealed the title in Singapore but endured a tough few days as his streak of five consecutive race wins came to an end.

After being told to pit by his team during qualifying on Saturday at the end of a lap which would have put his Red Bull on pole, the Dutchman lost places at the start from eighth and despite a surge up the field, lost out again following an attempted overtake on Lando Norris which took his car off track.

Ultimately, he finished seventh - as team-mate Sergio Perez took the chequered flag - and Verstappen heads to the Japanese Grand Prix later this week with a 104-point lead to Charles Leclerc.

“I dropped the clutch at the start,” Verstappen told Sky F1. “So I need to analyse why did it happen? But then, of course, you lose a lot of spots. And from there I tried to pass a few people – some work, but then you get stuck in a bit of a train, everyone has their tyres quite up to temperature so it’s really hard to follow.

“Then of course we were a bit lucky at the time, some people had a few mistakes, we were in fifth trying to go for fourth to pass Lando and as soon as I got alongside him, I braked not even late but I bottomed out because I was struggling already a lot there with bottoming and being off-line probably was even more bumpy.

“So as soon as I braked, the front wheels jumped in the air and that was it. I just went straight on. So then had to box again because of the massive vibrations, put new tyres on and come from last back into the points.”

Max Verstappen described his weekend in Singapore as “incredibly messy” (Getty Images,)

It marked the first time since the British Grand Prix in July that Verstappen finished off the podium and the 25-year-old admitted the weekend as a whole was “very frustrating.”

“It’s not where we want to be,” Verstappen added. “But I’d already of course, [it] starts from yesterday, you put yourself in a spot like that and it just can either work brilliantly, you can drive back to the front, or it’s just very frustrating like we had.”

“I mean, of course better than eighth, but it’s not what I’m here for, not with a car like that and not what we showed in practice. It’s just incredibly messy.”

Verstappen needs to leave Suzuka 112 points clear to take the title and the Dutchman will be crowned champion in Japan if he wins and sets the fastest lap.