Lando Norris did not appreciate a suggestion that the Singapore Grand Prix weekend was a key test of Red Bull's 2025 Formula 1 progress, even though his own McLaren team believed it was exactly that.
Max Verstappen could not make it three pole positions in three races as he qualified second in Singapore, but he was George Russell's nearest challenger and used superior qualifying pace to earn track position and finish ahead of both Norris and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri.
Norris had a run-in of sorts with old rival Verstappen in and then after qualifying in Singapore as Verstappen felt Norris had needlessly dawdled ahead of him on his final run in Q3, then the two had a mild war of words after - but what seemed to rile Norris more was a question he got about Red Bull's recent renaissance and Verstappen being so strong on a high-downforce track.
Verstappen's back-to-back poles and wins have come at Monza and then in Baku which, while a street track like Singapore, has contrasting downforce demands due to its ultra high-speed final sector. Even McLaren team boss Andrea Stella was among those curious to see how Red Bull fared.
But Norris, in a post-qualifying media appearance, took issue with a suggestion that Red Bull struggled in Singapore last year, when Verstappen recovered from a tough Friday to qualifying a tenth off pole then finished a distant second to Norris in the race.
"I'm four tenths off pole [this year] so it must mean my car is four times worse than Max's last year," Norris quipped. "So I feel like we're doing a good job."
When it was then said this weekend was supposed to be the litmus test of recent Red Bull development work, Norris replied: "I don't think that at all.
"They've improved in a lot of places this season. They've improved into Monza with some of those upgrades.
"They've not been bad this year. People keep talking so much down about Red Bull. They've been very strong most of the year.
"There's been a few tougher races for them, but they're also Red Bull. As soon as they've improved that little area, they're quick, so it's not a surprise. It's not a shock to anyone, it's not a shock to us.
"I expected them to be probably on pole today, honestly, from their pace yesterday - but also from where they were last year. They were fighting for pole, and if it wasn't for me, he would have won the race.
"You can't say that they were struggling. They were just not quite as quick as us, and now they're quicker."
Norris's comments could be interpreted in different ways, but they are clearly a push back against the notion of Red Bull 'struggling' - and it is not the first time he has rounded on such a broad-brushstroke characterisation of his main opposition.
His underlying point is largely accurate. Red Bull has clearly made progress at different points, so in that sense Singapore wasn't suddenly going to be a weekend where it 'got good'. It has also had moments where it has been as quick or quicker than McLaren through the year, even before the recent low-drag tracks.
But at the same time, Singapore was a key test. Stella said so himself, in a revealing answer that hinted McLaren feels it has been caught - and in some areas surpassed - by a rival that has developed its car relentlessly.
"It's interesting," Stella said after qualifying. "It's interesting for everyone to see what Red Bull were able to do in a circuit like this, for a couple of reasons.
"One is that they were competitive in Monza, very competitive. And then they were competitive in Baku. And we thought, let's see whether this depends on using a low level of drag, and it can be repeated at high-level drag and big rear wings.
"And the second reason being that here in Singapore, they might have struggled a bit in the past.
"Well, the evidence is that they might have resolved both of these high-drag and Singapore factors."

Stella went on to say that was not a surprise, echoing Norris's remarks that this is Red Bull: a top-level team, with Verstappen leading its charge. That combination being at the front isn't a surprise.
Still, it is at least mildly amusing that Stella - probably unintentionally - expressed the very view that Norris seemed to be challenging and used very similar terminology around Red Bull's past Singapore struggles.
There's definitely been a trend this year, and in the final months of last year too, of Norris getting annoyed at suggestions the McLaren is a rocketship, that Verstappen is overachieving in his car, and that Red Bull has had a bad season.
His Singapore comments were a fresh push back, which may reflect a little personal grievance at the job he and McLaren have done being underplayed while Verstappen and Red Bull have their issues overstated - but it's mostly because the competitive order has shifted and brought Verstappen back into play, mixed with McLaren simply not being quite as competitive in Singapore as Norris would have wanted.
As Norris is playing catch-up in the championship himself, and winning is the best way to take most points out of Piastri, he isn't just concerned with Verstappen becoming a nuisance again. Red Bull being in the mix more consistently directly hurts his title bid.
That is why it is significant that McLaren acknowledges Red Bull's very real progress and does not get complacent. Norris can dispute some of the specifics of certain narratives but there is no question that Red Bull and Verstappen are on their best run of the season - and that the car is working well at different types of tracks, even ones where it has been relatively weaker in recent years.
There is still a degree of uncertainty about how sustainable it is, given Singapore seems to have been unkind to McLaren. While it remains the case that the Red Bull is in a happier place, there are reasons why the MCL39 did not thrive in Singapore as it did 12 months ago, over one lap relative to the opposition and in terms of the comfort levels of the two drivers. Plus, in race trim, the McLaren still looked the fastest car.
Still, the development trends mean that McLaren's weaker moments are more exposed now than earlier this season.
"There's a trend whereby we have stopped the development of the car now for quite some time, because we've been focusing entirely on 2026, while we have seen that some competitors kept taking trackside some new upgrades - Red Bull certainly is," said Stella.
"And then there's also a pattern, from a technical point of view. One is the pattern of braking with bumps and kerbs, and the other one is with the low downforce, like we saw in Monza and Baku.
"So there's a few factors. There's certainly the fact that we haven't developed the car for a long time, and some track characteristics.
"Having said that, I would expect that Austin will still be a bit of a struggle for us, because the corners are tight in many braking areas. 'Our' tracks still remain, the likes of Brazil, Qatar, Abu Dhabi.
"Perhaps earlier on in the season, when we had a bit more advantage, we could go better with some other circuits, but like I said, some competitors kept developing their car or understanding better how to use their car, so now the field has become even more competitive."