Verstappen: Singapore is going to be the most challenging

Fresh after winning his 12th grand prix this season, Verstappen now gears up for this weekend's race in Singapore, at a revised Marina Bay Circuit, an F1 venue he had never tasted success at yet, and he admits it might be a challenge this year as well to win there despite the dominance he has enjoyed in his RB19 this season.

"I'm looking forward to the night race in Singapore," the Verstappen said in Red Bull's race preview. "Marina Bay is a cool circuit. This year it will be interesting to see how the revised track layout will impact the general behaviour and set up of the car, I think the lap times will be much quicker."

He added: "Singapore is probably going to be the most challenging weekend out of the upcoming races as the stakes are heightened on a street circuit and the field is usually very close, not to mention the heat and humidity.

"Last year we had a very unlucky weekend, hopefully this year it will go a bit better and we'll of course do our best to make sure we score maximum points this weekend," the Dutchman concluded referring to his seventh-place finish in the race last year, which was won by his teammate Sergio Perez.

The Mexican on the other hand has been under pressure to perform in 2023, despite winning two races early on in Jeddah and Baku, and would be definitely hoping to repeat his form from Singapore in 2022.

Perez said in Red Bull's Singapore preview: "I am looking forward to going back to Singapore, last season was probably one of the best races of my career.

"It was such a hard one to navigate, with the heat, the track conditions and the concentration that is required around a street circuit. Of course, I would love to repeat the win but it will be tricky, the new track layout is going to make things quicker in sector three and there will be rain, so it could be fun!

"This weekend is my 250th race in Formula One," the Mexican pointed out, "and I never would have imagined I would race an F1 car that many times when I started my career. It has been a dream and I am proud to have represented Mexico all over the world for this many years and I would love to give them another win this Sunday.

"I have a one-off helmet to mark the moment and I think it's going to look very special under the lights at night," Perez concluded.