Verstappen will start from second position, ahead of Piastri. Norris’s other McLaren is only fifth. Williams penalized: they will start from the back row
George Russell takes a surprise pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix. It is the seventh pole of his career for the Englishman, who drove two sensational laps in Q3 and set a new track record of 1’29”158. Behind him is Max Verstappen, who was nervous at the end of the session after making a mistake on his last attempt. The Dutchman still managed to finish ahead of World Championship leader Oscar Piastri, who will start from third place tomorrow. Fourth place went to an excellent Kimi Antonelli, followed by Lando Norris in fifth. Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, ahead of Charles Leclerc’s other Ferrari. The SF-25 proved very difficult to drive, as had already been seen during free practice. Isack Hadjar was eighth, behind Oliver Bearman. Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten. Williams were penalized for irregularities and will start from the back row. The Grand Prix is scheduled for tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Verstappen was immediately quick, taking the lead with a time of 1:30.317. Bearman set an excellent time, finishing second behind the Dutchman with nine minutes to go. Behind him were Russell and Hamilton. In the early stages, the track continued to improve, and so did the times. The Ferraris set a good pace: after the second attempt, Hamilton and Leclerc were third and fourth respectively. With six minutes to go, Hadjar took the lead: the Frenchman had also shown excellent pace in free practice. Norris was the first to break the 1’30’‘000 barrier, setting a time of 1’29’’932 that earned him first place. Antonelli was second with three minutes to go. Shortly after, Hamilton took the lead. In the final seconds of the session, Gasly’s car stopped: reliability issues (probably hydraulic) for the Frenchman’s Alpine. Hamilton finished Q1 in the lead, with Russell and Norris behind him. Eliminated drivers: Gabriel Bortoleto will start sixteenth, followed by Lance Stroll. Franco Colapinto is eighteenth, behind him is Esteban Ocon. Pierre Gasly will start from the last spot. Several drivers will be investigated at the end of the session for not respecting the yellow flag regime when Gasly’s car was stopped on the track.
Q2— After the first attempt, Verstappen was in the lead, followed by Piastri and Hamilton. Norris was fourth, with Hadjar behind him. Leclerc was only thirteenth, having touched the wall during his flying lap, but without damaging his car. Antonelli had an excellent time canceled due to track limits in turn 2. The Italian then completed another good lap, securing his place in Q3. Russell finished Q2 in the lead, ten thousandths of a second ahead of Verstappen and less than a tenth ahead of Antonelli. Leclerc managed to get into the top 10 on his last attempt. Bearman, Hadjar, and Alonso put in a great performance to secure their places in Q3. The following drivers were eliminated: Nico Hulkenberg will start eleventh ahead of the Williams cars of Alex Albon (12th) and Carlos Sainz (13th). Liam Lawson will start from fourteenth on the grid. Yuki Tsunoda set the fifteenth fastest time.
f1 singapore, starting grid— The starting grid for the Singapore F1 Grand Prix on the Marina Bay street circuit is as follows:
- Russell (GB/Mercedes); Verstappen (Ola/Red Bull)
- Piastri (Aus/McLaren-Mercedes); Antonelli (Ita/Mercedes)
- Norris (GB/McLaren-Mercedes); Hamilton (GB/Ferrari)
- Leclerc (Mon/Ferrari); Hadjar (Fra/Racing Bulls)
- Bearman (GB/Haas-Ferrari); Alonso (Spa/Aston Martin-Mercedes)
- Hulkenberg (Ger/Sauber-Ferrari); Lawson (Nzl/Racing Bulls)
- Tsunoda (Jap/Red Bull); Bortoleto (Bra/Sauber-Ferrari)
- Stroll (Can/Aston Martin-Mercedes); Colapinto (Arg/Alpine-Renault)
- Ocon (Fra/Haas-Ferrari); Gasly (Fra/Alpine-Renault)
- Albon (Tha/Williams-Mercedes); Sainz (Spa/Williams-Mercedes)
