Max Verstappen calls the Singapore Grand Prix debate nonsense.
Max Verstappen has dismissed the debate sparked by his Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar over how he would have performed in a Ferrari at the Singapore Grand Prix. Asked about the claim in Austin, Verstappen said it is impossible for him to judge how good the Ferrari is and described the whole discussion as nonsense. The exchange took place at the drivers’ press conference ahead of the United States Grand Prix, where the Singapore story followed the paddock across the Pacific. Hadjar had suggested that Verstappen’s win at Marina Bay would have been even more dominant in a Ferrari, a comment that put Verstappen on the spot as soon as the question reached him, according to GPblog.
Hadjar’s Claim About Verstappen in a Ferrari
Hadjar made his remarks in the same press conference. The Frenchman rejected the idea that Red Bull currently has the fastest car in Formula 1, saying the RB22 is still very hard to drive. He accepted that the team was dominant in Malaysia, but argued that Singapore was a different story and that Ferrari had the quickest car there.
Following that logic, Hadjar said that if Verstappen had been placed in the Ferrari, he would have won the race by an even bigger margin. He stressed that this was his own opinion. Pressed on his reasoning, Hadjar pointed to Verstappen’s pole position, which he said was secured by around half a tenth of a second, and to Ferrari’s tyre situation, as they did not have fresh soft tyres for the race. In Hadjar’s view, Verstappen put every chance on his side and made the difference in Q3, and that was enough.
Verstappen’s Response to the Ferrari Debate
Verstappen showed little interest in the hypothetical. When he was asked whether he believed he would have won by more in a Ferrari, he made clear that he has never driven the car and therefore cannot say how good it is. In his words, these debates are just nonsense.
The Dutchman did acknowledge that Ferrari were very fast in Singapore. He then turned to his own weekend, saying his qualifying lap was a good one, although he would never call a lap anything special because it can always be improved. He added that he felt good in his car. The answer kept the focus on his own performance and his own machinery, rather than on a swap between two cars that cannot be tested against each other.
Taken together, the two statements show a clear difference in tone inside the Red Bull garage. Hadjar was offering a personal view on where the pace really lay in Singapore, while Verstappen declined to rank cars he has not driven.
How Verstappen Won the Singapore Grand Prix
The context makes the debate easier to understand. Verstappen took pole position in Singapore, edging out Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, and went on to win both the sprint and the Sunday race. He crossed the line 7.335 seconds ahead of Leclerc, claiming his second consecutive victory after his win in Malaysia.
Ferrari showed strong pace throughout the weekend, which is the point Hadjar leaned on. Even so, Verstappen managed to keep his rivals behind him from pole to the chequered flag. The contrast between the two teams was one of the clearest features of the weekend, and it is the gap that Hadjar’s comments tried to explain by crediting the driver as much as the car.
Hadjar’s Difficult Weekend at Marina Bay
The gap between the two Red Bull drivers was considerably bigger than the one between Verstappen and Leclerc. Hadjar struggled with technical problems that disrupted his running in Singapore. In sprint qualifying he finished ninth and said he did not feel the car was driveable.
For the Grand Prix, he had to start from the pit lane after a penalty for replacing a failed power unit. He recovered to finish tenth, which earned him the final point. Against that background, Hadjar’s view that Verstappen is the main difference at Red Bull carries extra weight, because his own weekend showed how awkward the car can be when things go wrong.
Red Bull Heads Into the United States Grand Prix
Red Bull arrive in Austin with back-to-back wins in Malaysia and Singapore, and with a conversation about the car that is not going away. Hadjar maintains that the team does not have the fastest package on the grid and that Verstappen’s skill is a major reason for the recent results. Verstappen, for his part, is happy to leave that argument aside and concentrate on how his own car feels.
READ ALSO: Leclerc Rejects Hadjar Claim on Verstappen Pace
Whether Ferrari would have been faster or slower with Verstappen at the wheel is a question that cannot be answered, and the four-time world champion has made it clear he has no wish to try. What can be measured is on the timesheets and in the results from Singapore, where he took pole, won the sprint and won the race. With the United States Grand Prix next, the focus now moves from a hypothetical Ferrari to the track at the Circuit of the Americas.
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