By Mya Nyka-Szewczyk
New wins, new prospects, and new hopes. Will Max keep up the pace in this last stint of the season?
Recent poles from Malaysia and Singapore have reopened Red Bull’s hopes to the final stages of the 2026 season, as Verstappen’s dominant streak for pole position shifts the course of the driver’s championship ever closer to the ultimate top spot.
With current standings in favour of the young talent of Antonelli, the veteran driver Verstappen still grasps his path for excellence by improving his chances with dominant victories.
Leading for the majority of the race in Bahrain, Max and the Red Bull team did not get off lightly. With early indications of throttle response being weakened by the weather conditions, the leading edge definitely was well earned due to the fight against the Mercedes drivers from the start.
Signs of redemption were being played out by the Red Bull team as luck was on their side with the deployed safety car being a key element for Verstappen regaining the top position for the rest of the race.
Post race performance was discussed by Max with his comments of a positive use of strategy in terms of, “the right call with the intermediate…”, whilst reflecting on his feelings of proudness towards the team’s first race win with their own power unit being “pretty impressive.”
Results from the latest race highlight the Dutchman’s recharged prospects as he continued to dominate the drivers in Singapore. With his first time win at the Marina Bay Street circuit, Verstappen conquered on-board radio difficulties by progressively building the seven second gap between himself and Leclerc finishing in second.
In preparation for Austin, Red Bull plan to reassess the complications of technical radio response happening during the race, with further comments made by Hadjar of the overall difficulties with the car being costly for his own race results. Changes that are vital for the team will need to be completedbefore the next race with Austin being the deciding factor for Antonelli’spotential title.
Throughout the season, the impressive combination of Kimi Antonelli’sconsecutive wins with the responsive Mercedes M17 power unit have critically jeopardised the rest of the grid. With current world champion Lando Norris being out of the running for this year, Red Bull and Ferrari now are closing the gap for the runner up in the constructor’s championship.
Chances for redemption for Verstappen in the Red Bull Ford DM01 in-house unit have now shaped up to be still a fighting possibility, with the gap to Antonelli being 119 points. This means, the four-time driver champion will have to utilise the power unit’s full potential to gain every point possible.
Will Max be able to keep up this momentum for the final push of the season? That is the question.
