Embarrassing performance by Red Bull: 'It's unusual to ask that'

For Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, the weekend in Singapore was one to quickly forget. Things already went wrong during qualifying when Verstappen ran out of fuel for his final qualifying run, but the Dutchman also made mistakes in the race itself. According to Hakkinen, however, we should not weigh that too heavily.

Mistakes by Verstappen and Red Bull

''It is quite unusual for a team to ask a driver to abort a qualifying lap, especially one which was actually looking pretty good, but to then discover you don’t have enough fuel to complete another lap was embarrassing,'' said the two-time world champion. Verstappen could be level with Hakkinen last weekend but still has to wait at least a week for his second world title.

In the race, Hakkinen said everyone briefly expected Verstappen to return to the lead, but with a poor start and a failed overtaking move on Lando Norris, there was no more in it than seventh place. ''These kinds of races happen, even in a season where you are extremely competitive.''

Perez the ideal teammate

In that respect, it was good news for Red Bull Racing that Sergio Perez did give home in Singapore. The Mexican narrowly missed out on pole but did grab power on Sunday with a good start and a strong defensive performance at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. According to Hakkinen, Perez then again showed himself to be the ideal teammate for Verstappen.

The mistakes made by Verstappen and also by Lewis Hamilton also showed something else, according to Hakkinen. ''The mistakes from both Max and Lewis showed just what a fantastic job everyone else was doing!.  It is so easy to lose grip in conditions which are too fast for intermediates but really challenging on slicks, and this reminds everyone that any driver – even experienced World Champions – can get it wrong when pushing at the limit,'' Hakkinen concluded.