F1 Singapore GP: Verstappen storms to sprint pole with Antonelli only seventh

Max Verstappen topped sprint qualifying for Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix, where he will be joined on the front row by George Russell.

This is the first time Verstappen has come first in a qualifying session of any sort at Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Meanwhile, championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start Saturday’s sprint race from seventh, having been outpaced by the Ferraris and McLarens.

SQ1 - Verstappen fastest, Lindblad misses out

Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

Nobody had even set a time in SQ1 when Sergio Perez caused a yellow flag as he crashed into the Tecpro at Turn 5. The Cadillac driver damaged his front wing and eventually lost it on the racing line, with the red flag waved to clear the debris.

There were just six minutes remaining with few actual competitive lap times. As a consequence, the final moments were a rush to get a decent mark on the board, with cars out in the pitlane several minutes before the light even went green.

Verstappen eventually went fastest in 1m33.477s, nearly half a second slower than his own FP1 benchmark on the same medium tyre. The Red Bull racer led Charles Leclerc by 0.018s and George Russell by 0.096s, with Lewis Hamilton 0.271s down.

Everyone else was at least six tenths adrift, starting with an impressive Nico Hulkenberg for Audi, closely followed by Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Antonelli.

Further down the classification, Carlos Sainz was slowest of all. “I had a lot of front locking and no rear, combined,” he complained on the radio. He was eliminated after SQ1, like Williams team-mate Alex Albon, Cadillac duo Perez and Valtteri Bottas, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and, more surprisingly, Arvid Lindblad. Racing Bulls’ rookie was missing one tenth to make the cut, albeit after confusion caused by an FIA software glitch

SQ2 – Russell narrowly survives after lock-up

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Verstappen went 0.75s quicker than the SQ1 fastest time as early as his first attempt in the second segment of sprint qualifying, setting a 1m32.724s.

However, the Dutchman’s reference was swiftly surpassed by Leclerc, Hamilton and Norris, with the Monegasque adding a 1m32.457s to the board. Antonelli and Russell were six and nine tenths adrift respectively.

Meanwhile, Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were at risk of elimination. Even Hadjar was missing nearly half a second compared to 10th-placed Hulkenberg.

Russell’s second attempt was no better, with a lock-up into Turn 13. Hadjar’s and Colapinto’s respective improvements knocked the eight-time grand prix winner out of the top 10, but last-ditch progress saw him jump to safety in fourth.

Colapinto was therefore eliminated with a 0.094s deficit on Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, along with Hulkenberg, who failed to improve late on. 

SQ3 – Verstappen outpaces Leclerc

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images

Switching from medium to soft rubber as per the regulations, drivers had few actual chances to make an impact in the eight-minute SQ3 phase.

The McLarens and Mercedes were first out, with Norris setting the pace in 1m31.587s, leading Piastri by 0.189s, Russell by 0.250s and Antonelli by 0.518s.

Then it was the Ferraris in action, and Leclerc went quickest in 1m31.568s, narrowly edging Norris out. Hamilton was nearly two tenths faster than his team-mate in the first sector but lost even more in the final part and ended up 0.134s adrift.

Leclerc actually improved late on with a 1m31.399s, but couldn’t hold off a much faster Verstappen, who set a 1m31.156s on his sole attempt – not an actual pole position given this was sprint qualifying, but still unprecedented from the four-time world champion.

Russell clinched a front-row spot in the final instants of the session, leading Leclerc, Piastri, Norris and Hamilton.

Antonelli ended up seventh, 0.693s down on Verstappen, while Hadjar and Gasly exceeded track limits and have no lap time to their names. They will share the fifth row of the grid on Saturday afternoon.

F1 Singapore GP sprint qualifying results

SPRINT GRID

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	1'31.156		195.094
2	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.120 1'31.276		194.837
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.243 1'31.399		194.575
4	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.298 1'31.454		194.458
5	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.431 1'31.587		194.176
6	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.546 1'31.702		193.932
7	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.693 1'31.849		193.622
8	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		RB	Red Bull	+1.185 1'32.341		192.590
9	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		Red Bull	Red Bull	+1.791 1'32.947		191.334
10	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Mercedes	+1.999 1'33.155		190.907
11	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Mercedes	+2.093 1'33.249		190.715
12	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		Audi	Audi	+2.264 1'33.420		190.366
13	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+2.267 1'33.423		190.359
14	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		Audi	Audi	+2.310 1'33.466		190.272
15	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Honda	+2.578 1'33.734		189.728
16	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+3.212 1'34.368		188.453
17	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	+3.980 1'35.136		186.932
18	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Honda	+4.506 1'35.662		185.904
19	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+4.974 1'36.130		184.999
20	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		Cadillac	Ferrari	+5.604 1'36.760		183.794
21	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		Cadillac	Ferrari	+5.712 1'36.868		183.590
22	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+6.220 1'37.376		182.632
View full results