Can Verstappen win it all in Singapore? | Marina Bay Street Circuit | 2026 Singapore GP

Soumil Arora (0:00)

This episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast is just not about me. Yes, I may be commentating on the fan codes in the F1 broadcast of the Singapore GP, but our man Kunal Shah is in the paddock for the Singapore GP. Welcome along Kunal. Live from Singapore, 1:30 am your time. You're still buzzing. Tell us why.

Kunal Shah (0:19)

Because we are on European time zone. So my body clock, which is anywhere on the European time zone, I will not get sleep before 3 am. And that is just how it is. And it's actually wonderful because you feel like the day is just so much longer. Everything is just happening. So there's so much buzz. Two races, two qualifying sessions, one of them being wet, you know, controversial SQ1 that we've had lots of action in the paddock, lots of meetings, lots of interviews. You'll catch them all live on fan code.

Soumil Arora (0:52)

Wow. Who, who, who, who? Tell us, tell us.

Kunal Shah (0:54)

So there's going to be Andrew Schovlin, the racing technical director of Mercedes.

There's a tour of the safety car with one Mylander. There is Hannah Schmitz talking about how you can become a race strategy officer or race strategist and several more. I mean, how do you even become a Formula 1 photographer? And what are the various roles in the paddock that lots of fans could learn about, including how Formula 1 teams market themselves also, something I used to do, as you know. So lots of interesting things. Remember to check it all out on fan code in the weeks to come.

Soumil Arora (1:32)

Yes, that is so exciting. You got to speak to Arjun Kapoor, the Bollywood superstar, or it's hard to call him that. But yes, the Bollywood actor who at one point for one movie was a superstar.

Kunal Shah (1:47)

Which movie was this?

Soumil Arora (1:49)

Yeah. Good question. What did I end up doing here? No. Well, he's a Motorsport team owner, Kunal. He owns the Speed Demons Delhi in the Indian racing league. So I'll give him that.

Kunal Shah (2:00)

Where we also commentate, you and I.

Soumil Arora (2:03)

Yes, yes. Speed Double Desus, I like to call them. But that's beyond the point. You were in the paddock. You were watching it all. You saw Max have a near perfect Saturday. That was unbelievable, Kunal. Firstly, winning in a very chaotic sprint where we saw the race leader, George Russell, crash on his own in the tricky conditions, then getting polled later on. I am just firstly gobsmacked because by all conventional logic, this is not supposed to be a Red Bull racing circuit, which is what we discussed heading in. Are the murmurs in the paddock very similar to what we discussed on the podcast heading into the weekend, Kunal?

Kunal Shah (2:39)

No, in fact, it's a new rules era. It's a new Red Bull racing car and they have just found that true corner balance, which they need to give Max Verstappen to do his magic. So we've got to forget that Red Bull has struggled in Singapore and now with this upgraded package, is Red Bull now the quickest car on track, is what we need to ask because Mercedes is still in between their correlation, extracting more mileage, understanding their upgrades, the one that they brought in Baku. But we are seeing Max doing Max things in the ground effects era. So I'm going all in on Max winning. But there is one Achilles heels for Max, which is a race start. He is only been thinking of that race start. He said it in the media conference afterwards. He said it on the radio and Lewis Hamilton also hammered it in saying, it's actually a short start. So if we get ahead, because you know how difficult it is to overtake in Singapore. Okay, so for Max, to keep the lead on the opening lap and run away and open clean air, that's going to be a strategy. If he loses track position on that opening lap, the race might just get extremely interesting.

Soumil Arora (3:48)

That would be the one thing that prevents him from winning his first ever Singapore GP.

We all remember 2017, where Verstappen himself was caught in a bit of a dramatic situation with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, even before we got to the first corner. So that is always a possibility. But what's going on, Kunal? How is Max just so convincing this weekend? Because on the other hand, the Ferrari's are quick too, although a bit more dramatic. But with Max, I haven't seen him slide. I haven't seen him miss a braking marker. I haven't seen him lock up at once. I have not seen him complain about the balance. He has just been so good. What's in it? Like, what are you hearing in the paddock?