Singapore GP final practice and qualifying
By: Geoff Creighton
Summary
Leclerc beats Hamilton to Singapore pole | |
Vettel dropped to third from provisional pole after abandoning final Q3 lap | |
Verstappen beats Botts to fourth | |
Perez, Giovinazzi, Gasly, Raikkonen, Magnussen out in Q2 | |
Kvyat, Stroll, Grosjean, Russell, Kubica out in Q1 |
Status: Stopped
Here's how the session shaped up - we'll see you tomorrow for what promises to be an exciting Singapore Grand Prix!
Vettel: "Obviously the final attempt should have been better, but the car was quick and I was feeling good. We had a tiny wobble so there was no point finishing the lap because we were quite far behind. It will certainly feel different tomorrow, but it should be a good race."
Hamilton: "I don't know where Ferrari picked up their pace, it's not usually one of their circuits, but they did a great job, Charles did some great laps. Hopefully we can be in the mix with them tomorrow, I think we can be aggressive."
Leclerc: "If you look at the lap, it was a good lap, but there were some moments that I lost control. We brought some new bits that worked properly, which was good to see. I had a very tough Friday, but we worked hard and it paid off."
Arguably, Ferrari wasn't supposed to get pole here. And yet, here stands Leclerc with his third pole in a row.
Q3 results: 1 Leclerc, 2 Hamilton, 3 Vettel, 4 Verstappen, 5 Bottas, 6 Albon, 7 Sainz, 8 Ricciardo, 9 Hulkenberg, 10 Norris.
Albon briefly moves up to fourth behind Verstappen, before Hamilton launches himself into second place, denying Ferrari a front row lockout. Bottas then takes fifth from Albon.
Hamilton and Bottas much closer in the first sector this time. Verstappen comes across the line with a marginal improvement but stays third.
Vettel will again be the first to start a flying lap here, while the two Mercedes cars will go last.
Mercedes is looking surprisingly scruffy, and the front end just seems to be missing for both Hamilton and Bottas. They've both got to find more than a second to get pole.
It didn't seem that anyone expected Ferrari to be up there this weekend. But the new updates seem to be working; the lack of downforce that the team has struggled with this season doesn't seem to be as much of an issue.
Current order: 1 Vettel, 2 Leclerc, 3 Verstappen, 4 Hamilton, 5 Bottas, 6 Albon, 7 Sainz, 8 Norris, 9 Ricciardo, 10 Hulkenberg.
Verstappen slots into third place, just a few thousandths short of Leclerc and over a second up on Albon, who is currently sixth.
Vettel strings together three purple sectors for a 1m36.437s, and that should keep him in provisional pole at the end of the current runs.
Vettel puts half a second up on Bottas and over three tenths up on Hamilton in the first sector. He's found some decent pace.
Q3 is go. Not impossible to imagine any of the top three teams on pole at the end of this one, but the ball appears to be in Ferrari's court.
Advancing to Q3: 1 Leclerc, 2 Vettel, 3 Hamilton, 4 Verstappen, 5 Bottas, 6 Norris, 7 Albon, 8 Sainz, 9 Ricciardo, 10 Hulkenberg.
The likes of Perez and Raikkonen find some extra pace, but the drop zone ultimately stays unchanged.
Vettel takes the top spot with a 1m36.720s, but Leclerc is 0.070s quicker. The Mercedes cars are slower.
Vettel is quickest of all in the first sector, and is four tenths up on the Mercedes duo. It's where the SF90 does the damage this weekend.
There's the two Renaults in the Q3 berths too, but can any of the people in the drop zone find anything extra?
McLaren is looking rather good, with Norris and Sainz forming the bread of the Alex Albon sandwich. The low-speed deficiencies that it had earlier in the year seem to have been somewhat rectified.
Great first attempts by Verstappen and Norris - the former splits the two Mercedes cars in third, and the latter is comfortably clear of the midfield pack (and ahead of Albon) in sixth.
But Leclerc is faster still, getting out of the 1m37s bracket with a 1m36.930s. Vettel is four tenths down on his teammate, and settles for an initial fourth.
The two Mercedes cars have headed out on softs, as have the two Ferraris. No medium-tyre gambling then.
There's a replay of Grosjean brushing the wall, which will have contributed to his Q1 exit. His team-mate Magnussen turned around some unremarkable opening sectors to find enough to feature in Q2.
Advancing to Q2: 1 Bottas, 2 Hamilton, 3 Leclerc, 4 Vettel, 5 Verstappen, 6 Norris, 7 Sainz, 8 Hulkenberg, 9 Gasly, 10 Albon, 11 Giovinazzi, 12 Ricciardo, 13 Raikkonen, 14 Perez, 15 Magnussen.
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