Singapore GP: George Russell sets pole position as angry Max Verstappen takes aim at Norris

Thomas Maher 04 Oct 2025 3:22 PM

George Russell, Mercedes, 2025 Singapore Grand Prix.

George Russell has taken pole position for Mercedes in Singapore.

George Russell has clinched a sensational pole position for Mercedes in Singapore, while championship challengers Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri are second and third on the grid.

Mercedes has taken pole position at Marina Bay, with Russell proving imperious to remain out of touch for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Q3: George Russell clinches pole position for Singapore GP

Russell went quickest of all in the first runs in Q3, with the Mercedes man putting in a 1:29.165 despite brushing the wall at Turn 16.

Remaining committed despite the touch, his time was almost two-tenths of a second clear of what Verstappen could manage as the Red Bull driver went a quarter of a second clear of Piastri’s McLaren.

Kimi Antonelli was fourth after the first run, ahead of Lando Norris, as the McLaren driver was almost half a second down on Russell’s effort.

The track fell silent with five minutes to go as the drivers regrouped in the pits to get fresh tyres and come back out for the most important flying laps of the weekend.

Norris was the first to set off on his final flyer, passing Piastri as he did as the Australian came out on his out-lap. Norris remained fifth with his flying lap, failing to improve despite a stronger second sector.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was next up, remaining seventh after a scrappy third sector, while Russell improved to put provisional pole position a further two-tenths of a second out of Verstappen’s grasp.

Verstappen put in a strong final flying lap, but aborted in the final sector as it became clear to the Dutch driver that he had not overcome Russell’s lap.

Race engineer GianPiero Lambiase radioed Verstappen to say, “You can thank your mate for that,” implying that the Red Bull man had been compromised by another car.

Norris was the car ahead of Verstappen on track as the McLaren driver returned to the pits, Verstappen implying it was the Brit though didn’t mention Norris by name in the immediate post-session interview.

Highlighting that his lap had been wrecked by another car cruising around, Verstappen said it was “not Piastri,” as he hinted at Norris, vowing the incident would be “remembered”.

Russell thus finished with pole position on a 1:29.158, almost two-tenths of a second clear of Verstappen, as the Dutch driver is in a prime position to apply further pressure to the two McLaren drivers in the championship chase.

Piastri was third for McLaren, ahead of Antonelli and Norris, while the two Ferraris took sixth and seventh with Hamilton and Leclerc, respectively, with the British driver coming out ahead despite using scrubbed soft tyres for his final run.

Isack Hadjar put in a now-typical impressive performance to take eighth place for Racing Bulls, while Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took the final two places in Q3.

1. George Russell Mercedes 1:29.58
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.182
3. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.366
4. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.379
5. Lando Norris McLaren +0.428
6. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.530
7. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.626
8. Isack Hadjar Racing Bull +0.688
9. Oliver Bearman Haas +0.710
10. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.797

Q2:

Multiple early laptime deletions for track limits saw Bearman, Antonelli, Hamilton, and Russell all have their first attempts in Q2 removed, while Verstappen put in an assured first run to go fastest on a 1:29.747 ahead of Piastri, who was on used soft tyres, by less than a tenth.

Antonelli’s strong first lap was judged to have been over the limits of the circuit at Turn 2, but it wasn’t immediately clear-cut.

With Antonelli returning to the pits while in second place prior to the lap deletion, it left the Italian up against it as the minutes ticked away with no time on the board with six minutes to go.

The ramping up of laptime meant everyone came back out for the second runs on fresh soft tyres, including Antonelli for a pressure-filled single run.

Despite a steady first sector, the Italian popped in the best laptime of all with a 1:29.649 to go a tenth clear of Verstappen, before Russell underlined Mercedes’ potential by pipping him by a tenth to make it a Mercedes one-two in the final two minutes of Q2.

Verstappen’s fresh tyre run was enough to split the Mercedes drivers, while the two McLarens had to be content with fourth and fifth with Norris and Piastri, respectively, a quarter of a second down on Russell.

Hamilton was sixth at the chequered flag, ahead of Hadjar, Alonso and Bearman, with all eyes on Leclerc’s final lap as the Monegasque was in the drop zone.

Leclerc’s improved final lap elevated him to sixth to ensure both Ferraris made it through to Q3.

Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated in 11th for Sauber, ahead of the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. Both drivers could be seen struggling with rear traction, with Albon even touching the barriers at the Anderson Bridge while under full acceleration.

Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was knocked out in 14th after keeping it clean during the session following his two crashes this weekend.

Yuki Tsunoda was the slowest in Q2, being knocked out in the second Red Bull, and has also been summoned before the stewards for an alleged yellow flag infringement.

1. George Russell Mercedes 1:29.562
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.010
3. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.087
4. Lando Norris McLaren +0.247
5. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.251
6. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.352
7. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.374
8. Isack Hadjar Racing Bull +0.454
9. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.492
10. Oliver Bearman Haas +0.514
11. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +0.579
12. Alex Albon Williams +0.640
13. Carlos Sainz Williams +0.673
14. Liam Lawson Racing Bull +0.758
15. Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +0.791

Q1:

The Q1 session began with Hamilton running wide on his first flying lap, leading to that time being deleted, but he immediately set it right with a competitive time on his second attempt.

Showing the continued improved form he’s had across recent races, the seven-time F1 World Champion went fastest of all at the end of the Q1 session as he dropped into the 1:29s with a 1:29.765 on the soft tyre.

This was just under two-tenths of a second clear of Russell, with the Mercedes driver rising to second ahead of Norris at the chequered flag.

Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull ahead of Antonelli and Hadjar, with Piastri in seventh.

Piastri had been annoyed by his first flying lap being compromised by a yellow flag, leading him to argue, “Come on, they can’t be showing yellow flags just for people getting out of the way,” as he regrouped for another flyer.

The lap was good enough to finish sixth-fastest at the time, but he quickly started to fall down the order as the track ramped up in terms of grip and conditions.

Both Piastri and Antonelli were the last two drivers to set a flying lap, as Antonelli joined Hamilton in having a laptime deleted. The Italian did slot into second behind Norris in the final minutes, a tenth down on the McLaren’s best time.

Into the final two minutes, it was the two Sauber drivers, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, and Tsunoda in the drop zone.

Gasly’s final lap came to naught as he ended up parked against the barriers, reporting “losing everything” with heavy steering, suggesting a hydraulics issue on his car.

The French driver finished in 20th as a consequence, and the yellow flags triggered due to his stoppage hung over the final flying laps of several drivers.

Despite this, Tsunoda improved to escape the drop zone, but Bortoleto stayed in the bottom five. Gasly and Bortoleto were joined by Colapinto, Stroll, and Ocon in heading back for an early bath.

However, the FIA race stewards confirmed that the final flying laps would be looked at more carefully, with the two Sauber drivers joining Tsunoda in being summoned after the session.