Verstappen rolls out the red carpet for Norris in Singapore

Verstappen ‘docile’ with used tires at Marina Bay

“When I saw the ‘Safety Car’ message on the steering wheel I thought ‘shit’.” Max Verstappen at the end of the race he underlined that the neutralization established by the Race Direction following Logan Sargeant’s error was the final blow to Red Bull’s hopes, given that the opponents were able to stop to fit hard tyres, while Verstappen and Perez they were forced to continue with the hard tires fitted at the start.

With tires with over twenty more laps on the shoulders for Verstappen and for Perez it was impossible to resist to opponents. The Dutchman tried during the restart phase to be seen in Carlos Sainz’s mirrors, but as soon as the Ferrari driver gave way to Verstappen it was impossible to follow his former Toro Rosso boxmate and already in the first lap after the restart George Russell managed to get the better of the reigning world champion.

In light of the situation, Verstappen decided not to put any further stress on the hard tires as they would have had to reach the 40th lap before switching to medium to chase his rivals towards the end of the race. The Red Bull driver did not defend himself against Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen and Norris arrived in the interview area between the Grand Prix and Max confessed to them that there was no defender in his position to stop Lando from killing 😅

MV: “No quise defender, estaba como ve, ve”
LN: “Yes, yes! Thank you very much!”
pic.twitter.com/1A9XJpf2sm

— 🏁 (@NSpinali_) September 17, 2023

At the end of the race Verstappen went into the mixed zone to compliment his friend Lando Norris and underlined that he didn’t want to defend himself and that in practice he opened the door wide inside to the English driver. “Yes, thank you very much”replied the euphoric Norris, who in Singapore took the second step of the podium for the third time this season, this time behind his former McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz, sensational in granting Norris the DRS to defend second placed by the attacking Mercedes.