Max Verstappen secured the top spot in sprint qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, earning a front-row start alongside George Russell.
This marks the very first time the Dutchman has led any qualifying session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
In the meantime, current title leader Kimi Antonelli is set to launch Saturday’s sprint from the seventh spot, after falling behind the pace of the Ferrari and McLaren drivers.
SQ1 – Verstappen Leads the Way, Lindblad Eliminated
Arvid Lindblad driving for Racing Bulls
Image credit: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
No driver had recorded a lap time in SQ1 before Sergio Perez triggered a yellow flag by sliding into the Tecpro barrier at Turn 5. The Cadillac pilot sustained damage to his front wing, which subsequently detached and ended up on the track, prompting a red flag to remove the scattered components.
With only six minutes left on the clock and very few representative times established, the concluding minutes became a frantic scramble to register a solid lap, prompting drivers to queue up in the pit lane well before the exit light turned green.
Verstappen ultimately claimed the fastest time with a 1m33.477s, which was almost half a second off his pace-setting FP1 lap on the identical medium compound. The Red Bull driver edged out Charles Leclerc by a mere 0.018s and George Russell by 0.096s, while Lewis Hamilton trailed by 0.271s.
The rest of the field was at least six-tenths of a second off the pace, spearheaded by a strong performance from Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, who was closely followed by Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Antonelli.
At the bottom of the timesheets, Carlos Sainz ended up as the slowest runner. “I suffered from severe front locking combined with a complete lack of rear grip,” he lamented over the team radio. He faced early elimination in SQ1, alongside his Williams teammate Alex Albon, the Cadillac pairing of Perez and Valtteri Bottas, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, and, in a more shocking turn of events, Arvid Lindblad. The Racing Bulls newcomer missed out on advancing by a mere tenth of a second, following some confusion stemming from an FIA software error.
SQ2 – Russell Squeaks Through Despite Lock-Up
George Russell behind the wheel of his Mercedes
Photo: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Verstappen shaved 0.75 seconds off the top SQ1 time on his initial run in the second part of sprint qualifying, putting down a benchmark of 1m32.724s.
Nevertheless, the Red Bull driver’s time was quickly beaten by Leclerc, Hamilton, and Norris, with the Ferrari pilot posting a 1m32.457s. Meanwhile, Antonelli and Russell found themselves six and nine-tenths behind, respectively.
At the same time, Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon, and Oliver Bearman were all in jeopardy of dropping out. Hadjar alone was nearly half a second away from matching the pace of Hulkenberg in tenth.
Russell’s subsequent effort was compromised by a front lock-up heading into Turn 13. Stronger runs from Hadjar and Colapinto briefly pushed the veteran Mercedes driver out of the top ten, but a final, desperate lap allowed him to climb to safety in fourth place.
As a result, Colapinto was knocked out, finishing just 0.094 seconds behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, alongside Hulkenberg, who was unable to find more speed in his final run.
SQ3 – Verstappen Edges Out Leclerc for the Top Spot
Charles Leclerc piloting his Ferrari
Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images
With the rules mandating a transition from medium to soft compound tires, the competitors had very limited opportunities to deliver a fast lap during the brief eight-minute SQ3 shootout.
The McLaren and Mercedes drivers led the charge onto the track, where Norris set an initial target of 1m31.587s, putting him 0.189s clear of Piastri, 0.250s ahead of Russell, and 0.518s faster than Antonelli.
When the Ferraris took to the circuit, Leclerc went to the top of the order with a 1m31.568s, barely displacing Norris. Hamilton showed strong pace early on, running nearly two-tenths quicker than his teammate in sector one, but dropped time in the final sector to finish 0.134s behind.
Leclerc managed to shave more time off with a late 1m31.399s lap, but it was not enough to deny a flying Verstappen, who clocked a 1m31.156s on his single run. While not a conventional pole position since this was for the sprint race, it was a breakthrough performance for the multi-time world champion at this venue.
In the final seconds, Russell snatched a place on the front row, ahead of Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, and Hamilton. Antonelli had to settle for seventh, trailing Verstappen by 0.693 seconds, while Lawson, Hadjar, and Gasly completed the top ten.
