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Max Verstappen offered a critical insight into why he was quite furious at the off-weekend he had in Singapore last season compared to his calm demeanor after the DNF in Melbourne. The Dutch driver put this down to the fact that he knew he had the car to win the race in Melbourne but Singapore was a race where the team did not have the requisite performance.
Last season, Max Verstappen was on a 10-race win streak heading into the 2023 F1 Singapore GP. The team had not lost a single race last season until that point, but the bumpy nature of the track caught Red Bull off-guard. As a result, the team could not find the sweet spot with the car and was not a contender for the win.
As a result, Max Verstappen saw his 10-race winning streak come to an end, and the Dutch driver was also quite furious at the time. In Melbourne, however, when Verstappen suffered a DNF, the driver maintained a calm demeanor.
In conversation with Limburger.NL, the driver was questioned about his demeanor, to which he said:
“The goal after Singapore last year was to show that it was a one-off thing. We just weren’t happy with how we had done. Two weeks ago we had that failure in Australia, but the speed that weekend, unlike Singapore, was okay. So the feeling is different."
He added:
“Now you think: we will continue on the same path. I’m convinced that I could have just won the race in Australia, although Ferrari was strong that weekend.”
Max Verstappen tries to look at the positives
Contrary to the disappointing run, Max Verstappen tried to stress on the positives. The Red Bull driver talked about how he was already a three-time world champion. He knew he had the car to be competitive every race weekend and challenge for wins. He said during the same conversation:
“In the meantime, I have been world champion three times. That still provides more peace of mind than five, six years ago. You know: the car is just going well.
He added:
“Of course, we have to make sure that we don’t drop out anymore, because in the end, it’s precious points that you miss out on.
Max Verstappen has been very dominant in the last few years. The driver had a 10-race winning streak that ended last season, which was followed by a 9-race one. In terms of success, there aren't many that have come close to him in the recent past, and races like Melbourne are nothing but a blip in his career at this stage.
