Verstappen reacts to first Singapore Sprint win as he admits concern over ‘horrendous’ start

Max Verstappen was delighted to secure his first Singapore win after taking victory in the Sprint, but the Dutchman cautioned that Red Bull need to improve on their starts following an “horrendous” launch.

After a delay to the event beginning due to heavy rain, Verstappen had a slow getaway from pole position when the action did get underway – resulting in Mercedes’ George Russell snatching the lead.

The picture soon changed, however, when Russell spun out off the final corner at the end of the first tour and crashed out of the Sprint, putting Verstappen back into P1.

From there the four-time World Champion handled the tricky conditions and kept a chasing Lewis Hamilton at bay to claim victory, his first at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Despite being pleased with his triumph, Verstappen conceded after the event that the launch would be a key area to focus on given the impact that a poor getaway could have on Sunday.

“The start was horrendous again, so that's definitely something that we need to improve on, because if you have something like that tomorrow, that's your race over if nothing crazy happens,” the 29-year-old explained.

“So, yeah, not ideal, but then we got a bit lucky with what happened with George out of the last corner. And after that, we just wanted to keep it calm and under control, because you know that you can't pass around here, and especially in a condition like this with the intermediates.

“We just tried to bring it home, and of course, happy to win here in the Sprint, but I also know that I want to win tomorrow.”

Pushed on how it felt to finally win in Singapore – with it previously being the only circuit on the current calendar that Verstappen had not triumphed at – the Red Bull driver reiterated that his focus remained on doing so again in the Grand Prix.

“I want to win tomorrow,” he responded. “I don't see this as a win in terms of actually winning a Grand Prix. We need to have a good Qualifying.

“It will be very close with a lot of cars I think, and we just need to try to make sure that we are the best one out of them, but it will be hopefully a good battle.”

It proved to be a difficult outing on the other side of the Red Bull garage for Isack Hadjar, who retired in the opening laps of the Sprint due to a mechanical issue.

“I didn’t really have power at the start,” the Frenchman summarised afterwards. “Then it sounded very bad and I had to retire the car, so very straightforward.”