Red Bull's Max Verstappen beats the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to pole position in qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Verstappen arrived in Singapore fresh from his and Red Bull's first victory of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, and he has continued where he left off. The four-time champion has looked the man to beat all weekend, and took pole for the grand prix a few hours after winning the sprint, following Russell crashing out of the lead. Verstappen said: "This was the one I really wanted. The car has been really strong all weekend."
Leclerc felt pole had been on the cards if he had not made a few small mistakes on his final lap. He said: "I think there was a potential to be on pole today but Max just did a better job." Hamilton, second to Verstappen in the sprint, was quickest in the first and second parts of qualifying but could not repeat that pace when it mattered during what he described as "another difficult Q3".
Antonelli's fourth place was the first relatively bright moment for the Mercedes upgrade introduced in Malaysia, though the team still have question marks over it. Russell, who crashed out of the sprint at the end of the first lap, said he had competed in qualifying "mainly just to make sure the car was feeling as it did yesterday". McLaren hoped for a step forward after struggling in the past two races, but fifth and seventh for Norris and Piastri marked only a small amount of progress for the world champions.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing