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Qualifying report
Formula 1 Singapore GP

F1 Singapore GP: Norris takes pole over Verstappen, Sainz crashes in qualifying

The championship protagonists will line up alongside each other for Sunday's main event

Lando Norris, McLaren

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Lando Norris claimed pole over Max Verstappen for the Singapore Grand Prix in an interrupted Q3, as last year's winner Carlos Sainz crashed out during the top 10 shootout.

Sainz lost control of his Ferrari on the exit of Turn 17 while spooling his car up for a hot lap, ultimately backing his car into the wall to bring out a red flag.

Verstappen set a 1m29.791s to go top but did so under double-waved yellows in the immediate aftermath of Sainz's crash, and thus this was deleted. The incident also cost Norris a chance to go top, as his brace of purple sectors was ultimately squandered by the stoppage.

When the session resumed 15 minutes later, none of those without a lap opted to do a quick tour on used tyres and instead waited for the final crescendo with a new set of softs.

Oscar Piastri, who was nominally on provisional pole, set a 1m29.953s benchmark - but Norris swiftly beat this with a 1m29.525s. Verstappen got closest, setting a 1m29.728s lap to get onto the front row.

Both Mercedes booked the second row ahead of Piastri, as Lewis Hamilton got third by 0.026s over George Russell as the Brackley squad appeared more competitive on Saturday.

Ferrari endured a miserable session as Charles Leclerc's lap was deleted - although it was only good enough for seventh as Nico Hulkenberg's fastest lap was four-thousandths of a second faster.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, walks away from the car after crashing in Qualifying

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, walks away from the car after crashing in Qualifying

Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images

Thus, Leclerc and Sainz start from ninth and 10th, behind Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda on row four.

Alex Albon was just 0.024s shy of making it into Q3, having been bumped out by Fernando Alonso at the very close of the session. The Williams driver could be heard admonishing his team for lack of communication with tyre preparation ahead of his first lap; although he improved next time out, it was ultimately not enough.

Franco Colapinto was in the relegation zone ahead of the final Q1 runs, but the Argentine fired his Williams to the ninth-fastest time in that session. But he too fell on the wrong side of the cut-off in Q2, just 0.007s behind his team-mate.

Sergio Perez was a considerable scalp in Q2, qualifying only 13th with a lap 0.9s short of his team-mate Verstappen in that session. This put him ahead of the returning Kevin Magnussen and Alpine's Esteban Ocon.

Daniel Ricciardo was shuffled into the drop zone at the end of Q1 by Ocon, having peaked with 12th with his final lap and then proved susceptible to the drivers behind him in the order improving.

Lance Stroll could not progress either and, although Pierre Gasly improved on his final effort, it only proved to be the difference between 18th and 19th. The Frenchman moved ahead of Valtteri Bottas but was eliminated in Q1. The Saubers propped up the order, Bottas half a second clear of team-mate Zhou Guanyu.

F1 Singapore GP - Qualifying results

   
1
 - 
3
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Time km/h
1 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes

1'29.525

198.648
2 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull

+0.203

1'29.728

198.199
3 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes

+0.316

1'29.841

197.949
4 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes

+0.342

1'29.867

197.892
5 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes

+0.428

1'29.953

197.703
6 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari

+0.590

1'30.115

197.347
7 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes

+0.689

1'30.214

197.131
8 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 RB Red Bull

+0.829

1'30.354

196.825
9 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari

 

 
10 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari

 

 
11 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes

+0.949

1'30.474

196.564
12 Argentina F. Colapinto Williams 43 Williams Mercedes

+0.956

1'30.481

196.549
13 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull

+1.054

1'30.579

196.336
14 Denmark K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 Haas Ferrari

+1.128

1'30.653

196.176
15 France E. Ocon Alpine 31 Alpine Renault

+1.244

1'30.769

195.925
16 Australia D. Ricciardo RB 3 RB Red Bull

+1.560

1'31.085

195.246
17 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes

+1.569

1'31.094

195.226
18 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault

+1.787

1'31.312

194.760
19 Finland V. Bottas Sauber 77 Sauber Ferrari

+2.047

1'31.572

194.207
20 China Z. Guanyu Sauber 24 Sauber Ferrari

+2.529

1'32.054

193.190

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