Max Verstappen has played dow♍n suggestions that Red Bull could be the leading candidates for victory at this weekend’s Formula 1 Singa💝pore Grand Prix.

Red Bull arrives in Singapore hopeful of challenging for its third win of the season at the tight and twisty Marina Bay Street Circuit, which, on paper at least, sho♌uld favour the team’s RB15 package.

Mercedes is also expected to fare well given its strong performances so far this season at high-downforce tracks with slow-speed corners, while Feꦏrrari is braced for a more difficult weekend following consecutive victories at Spa and Monza.

🤡“Sometimes you think a track is not ideal and then you win a race,” Verstappen explained.

“Sometimes you have to be a bit lucky for that. Sometimes you are just very quick. I expect to have a good weekend, but still, t🍬here ar🧔e no guarantees.

“There are a lot of things you need to get right in qualifying as well, but in general throughout the whole 🌌weekend, to find a good set-up.

“Around here, with day practice and back intoౠ the night, you can’t get caught out with the settings.

“There are still a lot of things to get right be🐬fore we can talk about having a really good resu🔴lt.”

Red Bull has appea🥃red to close the gap to its rivals following Honda’s latest power unit upgrade, though Verstappen feels both Ferrari and Mercedes remain the engine benchmark.

“It’s difficult to say as they always run mo⭕re downforce,” Verstappe🥃n said.

“I think they are still ahead. Whatever💞 Ferrari is doing at the moment, I doꦰn’t know, they are it looks like miles ahead but I don’t know if that’s just pure engine power.

“Drivabili💖ty has always been very positive, I think all the engines now have pretty good drivability. Pret⛦ty much the same.”

The Dutchman also hopes Red Bull have successfully manage💮d to iron out launch issues which have resulted in Verstappen bogging down at the start of a number of races this se𒊎ason.

“We always try to do the best we can as a team, within Red Bull and of course Honda, we work well togeth🐼er to get better at it,” he e𒆙xplained.

“It’s something we know we have to improve. It’s also not an easy fix, at t༺he moment…but… it’s not always been bad.

“We’ve had a few start🅠s which haven’t been ideal and they have been hig🍒hlighted but sometimes you have had starts which are good enough.

“I don’t put too much pressure on it. We know we have to improve, but if you start stressinജg about it, it will only work in reverse🐷.”