F1 Singapore GP: Max Verstappen overcomes Ferrari challenge for pole

Max Verstappen clinched pole position for Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix, outpacing the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes struggled.

The four-time champion set a best effort of a 1m31.373s to finish just 0.054s faster than Leclerc and secure his second pole of the weekend, having done so for the sprint.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes team-mate George Russell finished just fourth and sixth - the Briton knowing he will be at the back of the grid with an overhanging engine penalty, while the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar will also start from the back following issues in Q1.

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images

The first qualifying segment got off to a poor start for Esteban Ocon, who locked up and appeared to graze the wall in Turn 13. Moments later, Lance Stroll suffered a similar fate in Turn 7. Both seemingly escaped those errors without damage.

Isack Hadjar also had an off but ended up stopping out on track. “The engine is off,” he reported; the Red Bull driver eventually managing to restart his car and pitted without a time on the board.

Hours after colliding with Oscar Piastri in the sprint race, Lando Norris set the early pace in 1m33.047s, 0.029s quicker than his team-mate. Verstappen and Hamilton were 0.194s and 0.264s down respectively, with the Mercedes cars over half a second adrift.

With five minutes remaining, Arvid Lindblad, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Gabriel Bortoleto and Hadjar were the bottom six drivers; Lance Stroll was just 0.04s clear of the 17th-placed Racing Bulls. Things weren’t going any better for Hadjar: “Same issue, I lost the gears,” he said. The Frenchman returned to the pitlane and never emerged back out.

As Hamilton took the lead with a 1m32.680s and improved upon it in 1m32.429s, three tenths faster than Leclerc and Norris after their respective improvements, the Silver Arrows ended up 12th and 13th, nearly 1.2s adrift.

Further down the classification, major progress from Lindblad and Bortoleto kicked both Aston Martins out of the top 16; Fernando Alonso’s and Lance Stroll’s day ended right there.

Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Hamilton maintained a similar advantage on the opening runs of Q2, with his 1m31.766s putting him four tenths clear of Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen was over half a second adrift, complaining of “insanely bad” gear shifts, followed by George Russell, Norris, Piastri and Leclerc – those five drivers within one-and-a-half tenth.

There were theoretically three Q3 spots for midfield teams, and with five minutes remaining, those were occupied by Liam Lawson, Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg; Pierre Gasly was two tenths away from the German, in 11th.

Gasly actually improved by six tenths on his final attempt, jumping ahead of all his main rivals; the Racing Bulls managed to regain their advantage over the Alpine, but the Frenchman still clinched the final spot for the top-10 shootout, as Hulkenberg gained an insufficient two tenths late on.

Having clipped the wall in Turn 17, Franco Colapinto ended up down in 16th, a whopping 1.2s down on his team-mate.

Meanwhile, Hamilton perpetuated his dominance with a 1m31.529s, which only Verstappen came close to, in 1m31.639s. Norris and Leclerc were 0.366s and 0.424s down respectively. Antonelli and Russell, again, were more than half a second adrift.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images

It was actually Verstappen who set the pace early on in Q3 with a 1m31.373s, with Hamilton registering a 1m31.496s despite being nearly three tenths faster than the Dutchman in sector two.

Antonelli was up to an encouraging third place in 1m31.562s, with Leclerc, Norris and Russell all within four tenths of the leader. Piastri, however, was 0.820s adrift, having been slower than anyone but Lindblad in the final sector.

Both Verstappen and Hamilton failed to improve on their final attempts; the Briton was jumped by Ferrari team-mate Leclerc for second place, with the Monegasque 0.054s slower than Red Bull’s polesetter.

Piastri was the only other top team driver to improve, by some margin – over three tenths – but that was not enough for him to gain a position; he took seventh behind Antonelli, Norris and Russell.

Gasly was best of the rest for Alpine with a 1m32.225; Lawson and Lindblad ended up 0.144s and 0.556s slower respectively.

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