The Red Bull driver fell from eighth on the grid to 12th before reaching the first corner of the Singapore Grand Prix, after his car practically stalled in the opening meters.
From there, the Dutchman had to fight through the middle of the pack, but he over-braked trying to overtake Lando Norris on lap 40, forcing him to pit again and dropping him to 13th.
Ultimately, Max Verstappen crossed the checkered flag one place higher than his starting position but said “it’s not where we want to be”.
He also said his atypical Sunday was heavily influenced by his problems in qualifying, which forced him to abort what could have been the pole lap when he ran out of fuel.
Verstappen said: “Yes, I released the clutch and hit the anti-stall, so I have to analyze why that happened to me, but of course when that happens you lose a lot of places.
“From there I tried to overtake some drivers and some maneuvers worked, but then I got stuck in a little train. Everyone had their tires at temperature so it was very difficult.”
“Then of course we were a bit lucky, they made some mistakes.”
“We were in fifth position, we tried to go for fourth to overtake Lando and as soon as I got parallel I braked, it wasn’t too late, but I touched the asphalt with the ground, because I had already suffered more than normal in that area with the bottom and being off the racing line was even worse”.
“So as soon as I braked, the front wheels went airborne, and that was it, I went straight.”
“I had to go back to the pits because obviously I had huge vibrations, so I put on new tires and came out last again to try and get into the points.”
“It’s not where we want to be, but of course this all started yesterday, when you go out in a position like that and everything can work brilliantly and you can go back to the front, but also the opposite, and it’s very frustrating, as it has happened to us. to us today.”
Asked if overtaking Sebastian Vettel for seventh on the final lap was any consolation, Verstappen said: “Better than eighth, but that’s not what I’m here for, not at least with a car like that.”
Max Verstappen will have another chance to win the title in Japan after wasting his first match ball of the season at the Singapore Grand Prix.
What does the Dutch driver need to become the 2022 F1 champion at Suzuka? Click here.
