Verstappen's first Singapore win earns glowing reviews abroad

Max Verstappen's first Singapore Grand Prix victory drew praise across international media, but the reviews looked beyond the result. The Guardian saw a sign of Red Bull's progress; other outlets focused on his start or the circuit milestone.

The Guardian said the win showed how dominant Verstappen can be when he has the right car. After a long struggle with a difficult machine, the paper said, Red Bull's car finally worked properly in Singapore. It also saw the victory as evidence that the team could keep developing the car and carry more performance into 2027.

Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport made the start the defining moment. The paper said Charles Leclerc got away better, yet Verstappen led through the first chicane. It treated the launch as the decisive flourish after pole and expected more such performances with six Grands Prix remaining in 2026.

Spain's AS called it an old-fashioned win from pole and said even the average fan could enjoy it amid a 2026 season marked by electric power units, superclipping and software problems. The BBC judged the weekend close to perfect, citing pole and wins in both the sprint and Grand Prix; after George Russell's crash, it said, Verstappen rarely appeared to lose control.

L'Équipe framed the result as a Singapore curse broken: the French paper noted that Marina Bay was the only circuit on the 2026 calendar where Verstappen had yet to win. It also said he did not need to push himself to the limit.