Vasseur unsure Red Bull is F1's team to beat

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is unsure whether Red Bull is Formula 1's team to beat, despite Max Verstappen's recent wins. After the Singapore Grand Prix, Vasseur said Red Bull was performing very well but argued that the order among the leading teams had shifted repeatedly this season.

That view contrasted with Mercedes driver George Russell's assessment that Red Bull was the team to beat, based on Verstappen's victories at two very different circuits. Vasseur pointed to the season's swings: Mercedes won the first six rounds of 2026, before Ferrari and McLaren each took two victories in the mid-season European leg and Red Bull returned to the top step. Different upgrade strategies had shifted the order, he said, and more upgrades could change it again. He said Ferrari should focus on its own work rather than its rivals.

Vasseur also argued that Singapore's result was shaped by the opening corner. Verstappen held Charles Leclerc off into Turn 1; on Marina Bay's tight street circuit, Vasseur said, a car two or three seconds behind was already struggling to follow. He considered position at Turn 1 critical.