Verstappen looks to 'find more performance' to challenge Norris

Will Singapore be better for Verstappen? 

"Well, I mean, I know that it's not going to be our easiest weekend, just straight up. But, of course, you analysed the race that you did last year a few things that could have been done better. That's all we'll try to do this weekend. But I don't expect it, of course, suddenly, to be one of our strongest weekends," the Dutchman revealed at the press conference.

In Baku, Sergio Perez performed well, which Verstappen hopes could continue this weekend. "I just hope that what we did in Baku already, it stabilised the car a bit more, that was positive, and hopefully we can just build on that and see. Around here, normally it's a bit more bumpy than Baku. Hopefully the car can take it," Verstappen added. He also hopes to make it to Q3 this year. "I'm confident that we can do a better job than last year. But at the same time, of course, also the competition has improved quite a bit, naturally. But yeah, I'm definitely targeting Q3, but let's see where we end up."

The gap between Verstappen and Norris is currently 59 points with seven races to go. Nevertheless, the Dutchman remains optimistic and wishes to capitalise on the opportunity to improve his car. "It’s not mentally preparing. I just want to make the car faster and better balanced. If I manage to do that with the team, then I know that we can be very competitive again. That's the only thing that I can do. I mean, there's no secret to that. We just need to find a bit more performance and just make our lives a bit easier," he concluded. 

This article was written in collaboration with Jeroen Immink.