While Sergio Perez Believes Pole Position Is Essential to Win in Singapore, Max Verstappen Fancies Overtaking Opportunities Created by New Layout

As Formula 1 heads to Singapore for the next race of the season, a small shadow of doubt has been cast over Red Bull’s performance in slow street circuits. Following the Italian GP, Sergio Perez commented that it is imperative that they perform well and take pole position in Singapore. However, with a plethora of changes being made to the Marina Bay Circuit, as per a report by GPBlog, Max Verstappen is hopeful that he will have quite a lot of overtaking opportunities in Singapore.

The main change would be made in the twisty sections of sector 3, which features quite a lot of slow right-angle corners. The section between turn 16 to 19 would be straightened out, creating a new mini straight 397.9m long. As per simulations, the new fastest qualifying lap would be somewhere around 1m 28s as compared to Leclerc’s 1m 36.217s pole lap in 2019.

🚨 The Marina Bay Street Circuit will be updated from 2023 due to the redevelopment of The Float at Marina Bay into “NS Square”. The #F1 #SingaporeGP track will be reduced to 4.928km with Turns 16 to 19 re-aligned into a straight. More info at https://t.co/b54sENWDYu pic.twitter.com/YUpqwL6MFg

— SingaporeGP (@F1NightRace) October 19, 2022

Verstappen achieved a historic win in Italy as he set a new world record of 10 consecutive race victories. With the Dutchman eyeing to extend his streak and set an untouchable world record, the changes to the track have made Verstappen hopeful that overtaking will be possible.

Max Verstappen is excited to drive on the new Singapore GP layout

As per a recent report by GPBlog, Max Verstappen commented about the new layout of the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Contrary to Perez, the reigning world champion believes that he doesn’t necessarily need pole to win the race because, according to him, the new layout might lead to more overtaking chances.

Verstappen said, “It will be interesting. I mean, of course, we have never driven it like that, but I think we are looking forward to it. It is always an amazing track to drive and who knows, maybe it creates another overtaking opportunity.”

MAX VERSTAPPEN – HISTORY MAKER! 👏🔥 pic.twitter.com/7quP3PUCpv

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 3, 2023

This would be bad news to the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes. Both of the said teams have managed to beat out Verstappen in Qualifying sessions, only to realize that the race pace of Red Bull is exceptional. Therefore, having a track where overtaking is difficult might be their only hope of stopping the Red Bull’s winning streak.

Charles Leclerc backs up Verstappen

It is not only Verstappen but also one of his closest rivals – Ferrari star boy Charles Leclerc, who is excited to drive on the new layout of the Singapore GP. The Monegasque also believes that the new layout would bring more overtaking opportunities along with it.

Talking on the Singapore GP’s official Instagram account, Leclerc said, “The new layout should be a bit easier to overtake, which is an exciting chance for racing.” However, given the state of the two teams, it is not quite sure how much the Ferrari would be able to ‘race’ the Red Bulls.