Doornbos tips Verstappen to shine in Singapore

Sep.14 - Former F1 driver Robert Doornbos thinks his countryman Max Verstappen has a real chance of winning this weekend's Singapore grand prix.

Mercedes is still dominating in 2016, but a year ago the great German team mysteriously struggled under the city-state's glistening floodlights.

"We believe we now understand why," said team boss Toto Wolff, "but only performance on the racetrack can prove our conclusions right."

The Austrian also predicted Singapore will "suit the high downforce design philosophy" of the Red Bull team.

Not only that, Dr Helmut Marko has revealed that Red Bull is taking car upgrades to Singapore.

Former F1 driver Doornbos, who like Red Bull driver Verstappen is Dutch, said: "Singapore is a good circuit for Red Bull.

"You need a lot of aerodynamic and mechanical grip there and that's what that car is good for. Engine power is also much less important than in Monza.

"Renault is introducing an engine update in Singapore," Doornbos also told Ziggo Sport Totaal, "which means an extra 15 horse power for Max and hopefully a few tenths of time per lap.

"Max loves street circuits and even though he made some mistakes in Monaco grand prix, last year in Singapore he drove a crazy race with the famous 'No!' on the radio. Hopefully this year it will be a 'Yes!' on the podium," he said.

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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