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What if we told you that out of the 24 events on the F1 calendar, only the Singapore GP is the one race that Max Verstappen is yet to win? The Dutch driver is known for his ability to be a metronome in the way he approaches racing.
There are no blips, there are no momentary lapses, and there is no scope for a bad weekend when someone like the Dutch driver is involved.
Despite that, for some reason, despite a decade-long stint in F1, Max Verstappen has been unable to stand on the top step of the podium of this race.
It's not necessarily a case of the driver not having a car capable of winning the race either, as in this last decade, his teammate has picked up a win and even finished P2 twice. So why has the Dutch driver not won a race in Singapore? Let's take a look. We're ignoring the season where he drove for Toro Rosso for obvious reasons, as he was never winning in that car anyway.
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Max Verstappen's bogey circuit(from 2016 to 2024)
2016 (first lap incident)
Max Verstappen's race got heavily compromised on the very first lap when, at the start, he got entangled with the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat.
After that point, it was all about just trying to salvage whatever he could from the race, but it wasn't much, as his teammate Daniel Ricciardo almost chased down Nico Rosberg for the win.
2017 (First lap incident)
When we talk about disasters, the race in 2017 was a complete disaster where Max Verstappen was involved in a collision with the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen right at the start of the race.
The Dutch driver had put together a stunning lap to help propel himself to the front row, but unfortunately, his race would not even make it to the second lap.
2018 (P2)
The race in 2018 was a stellar one from Max Verstappen, where his final push lap in Q3 almost caught the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton unawares. It was a stunning lap in a car that was essentially the 3rd fastest, but Verstappen propelled it to P2 on the starting grid.
On Sunday, after initial pressure from Sebastian Vettel, the driver would keep his nose clean and come home in P2.
2019 (P3)
In 2019, it was quite clear that the Ferrari was a car that was in a league of its own compared to the chasing pack at Singapore, and this was in evidence when Charles Leclerc secured pole position.
Max Verstappen was in P4 and would eventually jump up a place in the race and finish on the podium.
2022 (P7)
Now we come to the one race that Max Verstappen should have ideally won. The Dutch driver was severely compromised in qualifying when the team underfueled him.
The driver would start the race in the pack and slowly make his way through the field in damp conditions.
The driver would, unfortunately, make another error during the race, locking up while trying to overtake Lando Norris and hence losing any opportunity of even securing a podium.
2023 (P5)
It's almost ironic that the all-conquering Red Bull of the 2023 F1 season was absolutely nowhere in Singapore that season. The car struggled with the bumpy track, as it was unable to run low enough.
The best that Max could achieve that weekend was a P5, and that's where he eventually ended up finishing.
2024 (P2)
The 2024 F1 season was a bit of a surprise because Max Verstappen wasn't expected to have a strong outing in Singapore. The Red Bull had been struggling in general, and this was one track that it had not unlocked.
Surprisingly, though, the car was strong enough for the Dutch driver to start the race on the front row and then manage the proceedings from there.
Conclusion
It's safe to say that Max Verstappen hasn't had many opportunities to achieve a great deal of success in Singapore. The driver arguably had the opportunity to win in 2022, but the error from the team in qualifying hindered his progress.
Other than that, the driver has unfortunately never had the car capable of fighting for the win. Could 2025 be different? We'll find out this weekend!
