Steiner: Verstappen’s rivals surprised by Red Bull turnaround

Guenther Steiner said Max Verstappen’s rivals were still afraid he might win races, but were no longer frightened of him in the championship. On the Red Flags podcast, the former Haas boss said the opposition was more surprised by how quickly Red Bull had turned its season around.

Red Bull had won back-to-back races, and Verstappen’s Singapore victory was emphatic: he finished more than seven seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc and set the fastest lap. At the time of Steiner’s remarks, Verstappen was fourth in the 2026 drivers’ standings on 221 points, 119 behind leader Kimi Antonelli, with six rounds remaining.

Steiner said the recovery was not a first for Red Bull. The race before Singapore had also been good, he said, while the Singapore performance was dominant.

He also cautioned against projecting the recovery into 2027, saying the 2026 season should be finished before attention turned to next year.