Verstappen wins in Singapore as radio failure forces coded messages with Lambiase

Max Verstappen swept to victory at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in 2026, ending years of Red Bull struggles in Singapore with a dominant sprint and race weekend double — though the win came with an unusual twist when his radio failed mid-race, leaving him and engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to communicate in improvised code.

Singapore had long been one of the few circuits where Red Bull consistently came up short, but Verstappen converted two pole positions into two victories across the sprint weekend. The main race, however, was not without its anxious moments. A troubled start left him briefly vulnerable to Charles Leclerc heading into Turn 7, before deployment issues were resolved and Verstappen pulled clear.

“The start was critical, and it was just good enough. Again, something was not particularly right at the start, so I need to understand what went wrong there,” Verstappen said after the race. “Before releasing the clutch, it didn’t feel good. Then we had a few laps with some deployment issues, so that’s where Charles almost got me into Turn 7. Once we had cleared the deployment problems, it was fine.”

Verstappen noted that the nature of the starting problem differed from those he had experienced in recent weeks. “I need to understand what went on with the engine before even dropping the clutch, because I think that did hurt my start. It was again not fantastic, you can say that.”

With the race under control, a new problem emerged: Verstappen’s radio microphone stopped working. He could hear the team, but his responses were inaudible to the pit wall. Lambiase adapted by asking Verstappen to stay silent if he wanted to pit under a potential safety car, and to press the radio button if he preferred to hold track position.

“Maybe GP was happy that it was not working!” Verstappen joked in the post-race press conference. “I couldn’t really say anything. He did try at one point to ask me a few things in code, and I think he understood well what I meant or what I didn’t want. But it’s never nice. I’ve been having difficulties with my radio already the whole season, and this weekend has been particularly bad.”

Lambiase, who joined Verstappen on the podium in Singapore, is set to move on from his race engineer role, with Red Bull already planning the transition to his successor. The Singapore weekend marked another milestone in their partnership — and, given the circumstances, a fittingly unconventional one.