Max Verstappen agrees with George Russell claim after Singapore 'struggle'

Max Verstappen found common ground with George Russell after watching his bitter F1 rival cruise to victory in Singapore.

There has been no love lost of late between Russell and Verstappen, who have endured several contentious moments over the past 12 months.

With the duo lining up on the front row of the grid for the race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, there was the potential for fireworks at the start of the race, only for those to be provided by the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Mercedes driver Russell, however, felt Verstappen could have claimed a third successive victory if Red Bull's four-time F1 champion had beaten him off the line into Turn 1 due to the difficulty in overtaking, and the fact that there was no safety car, particularly after seeing the Dutchman start on the soft tyres compared to his mediums.

Rain ahead of the race had helped clean the dirty side of the grid to a certain extent on Verstappen's line. His getaway, however, was still a struggle. In contrast, Russell comfortably pulled away.

Instead, Verstappen delivered a masterclass in defensive driving to keep Norris at bay on occasion, whilst also managing a variety of issues with his car.

"I thought it was a smart move from those guys [Red Bull to start with the softs] because if Max had jumped me at Turn 1, I think he would have won the race, because overtaking was so challenging," remarked Russell.

An opportunity missed?

Verstappen concurred with the now five-time grand prix winner. He also explained that having failed to take advantage of his soft tyres and make it past the Mercedes at the start, he was left to manage not only the red-walled Pirellis, but also the hard compound he pitted onto.

"Yeah, I think so too," Verstappen said in agreement with the British driver. "It’s just super hard to pass around here, but I didn’t take the lead at Turn 1.

So, yeah, we knew that the inside just was a lot worse for start performance. For whatever reason, it took a step back even compared to last year, so it’s a bit of a shame, of course.

"I knew already yesterday that it would be very tough to even keep the position on the same tyres. Then, of course, with the rain as well, we opted to go for the soft, just hoping that, first of all, we could keep our position and maybe have a shot at fighting for P1 into Turn 1.

"But once I didn’t achieve that, it was a proper management race, trying to keep those soft tyres alive long enough to bring it to an acceptable lap to stop.

"Then, of course, I knew that even on a hard tyre, it was still a long way to go. I think my tyres were six, seven laps older than George’s and Lando’s, more or less."

The Dutchman argued that, given the other issues he encountered in his RB21 and how difficult it is to overtake in Singapore, second place was the best he could have hoped for.

"So, yeah, it was not easy out there," he added. "Plus, the whole race, I was struggling a lot with the shifting — downshifting and upshifting — so that was not helping. And the balance probably was not where I wanted it to be.

"So, yeah, I think second was just the maximum that we could do today. But at the same time, even if the balance would have been miles better, second was still the best we could have done if we stayed P2 into Turn 1.

"That’s just how it goes around here. When nothing crazy happens with a safety car or an opportunity, then that is just your position."