George Russell defeated Max Verstappen to pole position in an exciting qualifying hour in the Singapore Grand Prix.
Momentum won the weekend between McLaren, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, but it was Russell’s Mercedes who peaked at the right time, the Q2 -time schedule at the top and then dominated Q3. The Brit defended the expectations for unpredictability by putting two laps that is good enough for the pole position when the evolution of the track reached its climax.
A sizzling first round laid the foundation, with two purple times in the first two sectors to take a provisional pole. Russell was then one of the only two under the top five drivers to find time with his second round, in which he cemented his grip in the first place to claim pole with a best time of 1m29.158s, a new track record in Marina Bay.
It was Russell’s second post of the season and came after a crash in FP2, eliminated him from most of the most important practice session of the weekend.
“Great to be in the pole position,” he said. “Yesterday was a very challenging day for many different reasons, but it’s good to come back and get a good result today.
“Of course there will be a long, sweaty race tomorrow, but I knew that there was potential in the car. I am very happy to be on a pole.”
Verstappen was Russell’s best challenger, missing pole with 0.182s, but the Dutchman thought there was time left on the table during his second point. The reigning champion, who has never taken a pole in Singapore, made a mistake in the last sector, for which he seemed to give the dirty air of the slowly moving Lando Norris, who was on his way back to Pit Lane in front of him in the last corners.
“That will be noted. It will also be remembered,” he said. “That was a bit of a shame, otherwise I think it was close by for pole.
“It is always exciting here in qualifying. I am disappointed that I am not the first place, but this weekend so far has been really good. The car has been very competitive, so for us to be second is very good.”
Titelleider Oscar Piastri qualified third, but the fastest McLaren was 0.366s of the pace after a lap that he said was maximum of the car.
“Of course I wanted more,” he said. “But I don’t think we had 0.4s in it to get a pole.
“In the end I am quite happy. I think it has been a good weekend so far, and I have built it up well. It was a fairly clean session, so that’s all I can ask.”
Kimi Antonelli placed the second Mercedes fourth and 0.379s behind his pole-tinted teammate after he was almost eliminated for alien track limits in the second quarter.
Lando Norris became fifth after a non -inspiring session of the Brit, which was 0.428 of the pace.
Lewis Hamilton amounted to Q1, but improved by only 0.077s on the way to the sixth for the hour. He was slightly less than 0.1s faster than Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in the seventh.
Isack Hadjar led the midfield in eighth place for Olvier Bearman and Fernando Alonso to complete the top 10.
Nico Hulkenberg will stand in line a season-best 11th in his Sauber and Williams teammates Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz beat to the place.
Liam Lawson recovered from two major accidents in the second and third practice sessions to qualify 14th for the oppressed Red Bull Racing driver Yuki Tsunoda, whose 15th place was his worst qualifying performance since the Hungarian Grand Prix of August. The Japanese driver slashed 0.277s for a Q3 location and 0.781s slower than teammate Verstappen.
Gabriel Bortoleto missed Q2 with only 0.045s, leaving the Sauber director 16th on the schedule for the Lance walk of Aston Martin.
“So incredible, it’s just always bad,” Stroll complained.
Franco Colapinto was 18th for the Esteban Ocon van Haas and Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, who parked his car on the side of the road after it failed on his last flying round.
“I lost everything,” the Frenchman reported and explained his third consecutive Q1 elimination.
Result
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