Vasseur dismisses Red Bull as F1's best team despite Verstappen's three-race winning streak

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has refused to crown Red Bull as Formula 1’s team to beat, even as Max Verstappen extended his winning run to three races with a controlled victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.

Verstappen, the four-time world champion, claimed his first win of 2026 with a dominant display in Malaysia before sweeping both the sprint race and the grand prix at Marina Bay. The results have lifted Red Bull to within seven points of third-placed McLaren in the constructors’ standings, with six rounds remaining.

Asked directly whether Red Bull had become the team to beat, Vasseur was unconvinced. “Not sure,” he told Motorsport.com. “Honestly, they are doing very well, but it’s not the team to beat. If you look at McLaren and Mercedes, if you have a look from the beginning of the season, Mercedes was flying, then we won two races, then McLaren won two races, then Red Bull won two or three.”

Vasseur’s scepticism is rooted in the broader pattern of the 2026 campaign. Mercedes dominated the opening six rounds before Ferrari and McLaren closed the gap during the European leg, with each team collecting two victories before Red Bull’s recent surge. The Ferrari boss sees the fluctuating order as a product of staggered upgrade programmes rather than any single team establishing clear superiority.

“I think it’s changing, because quite often you have four teams — yesterday you had four teams in less than two races,” Vasseur said. “It means that if someone is bringing upgrades next week, the classification can change. But the most important thing is to be focused on ourselves, not to think about the others.”

His comments stand in contrast to those of Mercedes driver George Russell, who declared Red Bull “the team to beat” given that Verstappen’s wins came at two very different circuit types.

Vasseur also offered a tactical explanation for Singapore specifically, pointing to the opening corner as the decisive moment. Charles Leclerc, who finished second, was unable to pass Verstappen into Turn 1, and the tight Marina Bay layout made any subsequent overtaking attempt largely futile.

“The position in Turn 1 was critical,” Vasseur said. “It was clear all the laps that as soon as you were two or three seconds behind, you were struggling more — even before lapping someone. For sure, you lose time when you overtake, but even before, when you were two, three seconds behind, it was difficult.”

Lewis Hamilton finished sixth on Sunday, leaving Ferrari’s constructors’ challenge intact but under pressure as the season heads into its final stretch.