Verstappen takes Singapore pole as Russell drops from sixth to last
Max Verstappen took pole for the Singapore Grand Prix with a 1m31.373s, his first grand prix pole at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with Charles Leclerc 0.054s behind in second. George Russell qualified sixth but starts from the back of the grid after an engine-change penalty, so tonight's race grid will differ from the official qualifying order.
Two Ferraris close behind
According to Formula1.com, Lewis Hamilton was third on 1m31.496s, 0.123s off pole. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) was fourth on 1m31.562s, 0.189s back, and Lando Norris (McLaren) fifth, 0.339s adrift. Autosport's live text reported that Antonelli backed out of his second Q3 push lap, and that Verstappen complained over the radio of "insanely bad" gearbox shifts.
Russell drops from sixth to last
GPFans lists Russell sixth, 0.374s off pole. Both outlets say he will start from the back of the grid because of an engine-related penalty. Formula1.com notes that everyone classified behind him moves up one place, so seventh-placed Oscar Piastri effectively lines up sixth. GPFans also carries a separate headline mentioning a "40-place grid penalty", but the article body does not support it, so it is not covered here.
Seventh to tenth were Piastri (+0.487s), Pierre Gasly (Alpine, +0.852s), Liam Lawson (+0.996s) and Arvid Lindblad (+1.408s), with Lawson and Lindblad both driving for Racing Bulls.
Eliminated drivers had their stories too
Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas and Isack Hadjar went out in Q1; Hadjar set no representative time because of reliability problems. In Q2 the casualties were Nico Hulkenberg, Ollie Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto. Colapinto hit the wall on his final lap, and Autosport reported that Bortoleto had a tankslapper leaving the Anderson Bridge.
Race tonight, rain the wildcard
The race starts at 20:00 local time today (12:00 UTC). Qualifying took place on a track that had dried after earlier rain, and Autosport wrote that rain before the start would mean a long wait. Verstappen has pole, but how far Russell climbs from the back and the weather are the story of tonight's race.