Max Verstappen overcomes ‘suspected’ Red Bull issue to secure Singapore Sprint pole

SINGAPORE – Max Verstappen overcame an ERS issue that necessitated a change from Red Bull before Sprint qualifying to secure pole in Singapore.

The Red Bull driver dominated Sprint qualifying, fastest in all three sessions, with his 1:31.156 a tenth faster than George Russell’s best time.

Sergio Perez causes a red flag in SQ1

There was a bit of drama in the build-up to SQ1 with a ‘caution do not enter’ tap up at Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s mechanics worked on his RB22, changing his car’s ERS.

Red Bull stated: “The unit on Car 3 has a suspected fault, therefore we have changed on a pre-cautionary basis as we had scope to do so prior to the start of Sprint Qualifying.”

Meanwhile, Mercedes made the call after FP1 to remove its updated wing from Kimi Antonelli’s car, putting him on the same spec as George Russell.

The Mercedes pair were among the first to leave the pit lane, doing so behind the Cadillacs of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, with the Mexican racer faster than his teammate.

Perez then nudged the barrier nose-first at Turn 4. While that initially brought out the yellow flags, that was upgraded to red when he lost his front wing as he made his way back to the pits and left debris on the track.

Lewis Hamilton was quickest with a 1:33.748, 0.970s ahead of Pierre Gasly, but only five drivers had set representative times.

The red flag set up a frantic final 6m 9s in SQ1, with the drivers queuing at the end of the pit lane. Ironically, Perez, cleared of driving his car in an unsafe condition, was at the front of the queue.

The FIA stewards announced that Verstappen would be investigated after the session for overtaking Hamilton under yellow flags at Turn 7.

Charles Leclerc moved up to second behind Hamilton, while George Russell climbed to third. Behind Hamilton, the timesheet was changing by the second.

Lando Norris climbed to third, Oscar Piastri moved up to fourth behind his teammate, and then came the Red Bull pair. Verstappen shot up to first place with a 1:33.477, Isack Hadjar up to fourth.

Eliminated: Arvid Lindblad, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz.

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A late escape for George Russell in SQ2

There was a bit of a delay to SQ2 as the FIA resolved an issue with the timing systems. The FIA was “investigating whether we can proceed with the rest of the session.”

The session got underway at 21:11 local time, with drivers again required to run the medium Pirelli tyres.

Pierre Gasly nudged the pit lane wall as he tried to exit his Alpine garage. The team pushed his car back into the pits just to check that everything was okay.

Verstappen set the early pace with a 1:32.724, seven-tenths up on his P1 time from the first session.

Hamilton, though, edged ahead, with Leclerc then up into P1. The benchmark time was a 1:32.457 with five minutes remaining. Hamilton complained that he had a “couple of big snaps” at the end of his lap.

Russell aborted his flying lap after a big front-right lock-up. The Mercedes driver was down in eighth place, but had enough time for a cooldown lap and a second hot lap.

Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto pushed Russell into the elimination zone in 11th place. The Briton responded with a 1:32.614, putting him fourth on the timesheet.

Eliminated: Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon.

Max Verstappen secures pole in SQ3

10 drivers for SQ3, with Norris, Russell, Antonelli and Piastri immediately out on track on their soft Pirelli tyres.

The remaining six, including SQ’s pace-setter Verstappen, remained in their respective garages. Concerningly, Red Bull were looking at the rear of the four-time world champion’s RB22.

Norris posted a 1:31.587 to go fastest ahead of Piastri, Russell and Antonelli.

Leclerc was the next to make his mark, and went P1 by 0.019s ahead of Norris. Hamilton slotted into third place after a big slide cost him time. Leclerc upped his pace to a 1:31.399.

Then came Verstappen… Purple in the first sector, and purple in the third, it was a 1:31.156 and Sprint pole position for the Red Bull driver.

Behind him, Russell improved to second place ahead of Leclerc, Piastri went fourth ahead of Norris and Hamilton. Antonelli was only seventh with Lawson, Hadjar and Gasly completing the top ten. Hadjar and Gasly both had their lap times deleted for exceeding track limits.

Singapore Grand Prix: Sprint qualifying top ten

1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:31.156
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.276
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.399
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:31.454
5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:31.587
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:31.702
7 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.849
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:32.341
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull no time
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine no time

The full results from Sprint qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix

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