Verstappen: Team knew in advance start would be "difficult"

Lining up fourth, Verstappen slumped dramatically at the start, impeded further when Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg came together as they tried to avoid his Red Bull.

He ended the opening lap in eighth place and went on to finish the race in sixth.

"Before the start the team already said the start wouldn’t be ideal because the clutch wasn’t working properly," Verstappen said after the race.

"Last night they discovered that the clutch wouldn’t bite well, but they weren’t allowed to change anything by the FIA because it wasn’t a structural problem and I was able to race with it.

"I dropped the clutch and just had a lot of wheelspin and then there’s nothing you can do. That’s the worst thing that can happen, apart from going into anti-stall. I knew it was going to be a difficult start, but I didn’t expect it to be that bad.

"Then I had Nico in front of me, so I had to brake and lose even more momentum. It was maybe not as bad as in Monza, but still very bad. At least at Monza it’s easier to overtake. Here it is pretty much game over.

"I have no clue [how I didn’t hit Nico]. I was lucky not to get hit but it was all due to the bad start. He should have been behind us.

Team boss Christian Horner confirmed the team was indeed aware of a clutch issue beforehand, although said the FIA did allow Red Bull to inspect it in parc ferme.

"We had a clutch issue yesterday and we got permission to take it out to inspect it," Horner said.

"We couldn’t find anything specifically wrong so it went back onto the car today. But it had a very abrupt release, picked up a lot of wheelspin and that, combined with Hulkenberg coming at an angle, he [Verstappen] lost so much momentum down to turn one, it lost him quite a few places.

"Running in the dirty air, pushing hard to try to pass, burned up the tyres pretty quick in the first two stints. Then his race got stronger and stronger in the second half."

"Very bitter" feeling

For Verstappen, Singapore was the third grand prix in a row to be compromised by a poor start, after a collision brought on by him dropping behind the Ferraris at Spa and a very slow getaway at Monza.

"We need to focus on getting the start under control," Verstappen said.

"Now it’s been three times in a row. It’s very disappointing.

"I’m going to sleep well tonight and then prepare for the next race. We will definitely have to talk about this, because this can’t happen three times in a row. We could have been fighting for the podium here, so it’s very bitter, of course."

Verstappen conceded, also, that his season has taken a turn for the worse since four-week break between Hockenheim and Spa.

"After the summer break there’s always been something. It started so well in Barcelona and I got into a nice flow.

"After the break it seems like things changed, it’s very weird. Bad luck can happen. Now we’ll have to make sure things go our way again."