Verstappen disappointed and hopes Singapore serves as a "wake-up call" for rest of 2019; Horner: Podium was "damage limitation"
Monday 23 September 2019 11:07, UK
Max Verstappen described Red Bull's Singapore GP as "not good enough" and a "wake-up call" after the team failed to live up to expectations.
Red Bull have long highlighted Singapore as a winnable race - even taking engine penalties in Belgium and Italy to give them a better chance - but while Verstappen secured a podium, he was never in contention for victory and team-mate Alex Albon finished sixth.
Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari now 'very hard to beat'
Sebastian Vettel opens up on public support
It was the first time Red Bull finished the race, which favours downforce and suits their chassis-reliant package, outside the top two since 2009.
"Not good enough," said Verstappen when asked about his weekend. "We came here to win and clearly didn't. I would say it's a little wake-up call."
Verstappen benefited from Mercedes' strategy in Sunday's race with the Dutchman, who claimed unexpected F1 2019 victories in Germany and Austria, finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton but admitting he had the faster car.
"From Austrian onwards, it's maybe our worst race in terms of performance, where we expected to be really good," added Verstappen.
"I have a few ideas why it went wrong so we will analyse all of them. I think here, clearly, in too many corners the car was not working like I wanted it to. We'll go home and see what we can do better."
He continued to Sky F1: "It was maybe a little bit of an off weekend. We just have to keep pushing and there is still work to do, we know that."
Red Bull boss Christian Horner admitted that, after a disappointing qualifying that left Verstappen fourth, the race turned into "damage limitation".
He did, however, find positives from the podium and Albon's performance in just his third race in the Red Bull, and first in Singapore.
"I think we missed out on Saturday, our qualifying pace is something we need to look at and understand where we went wrong," said Horner. "I think in the race pace we were as quick as the Ferraris, it was just where you were on track.
"Alex has driven a strong race first race here in Singapore here too. There's plenty to look at but I think overall, it was damage limitation."
