Key events
George Russell: “Amazing to be on pole – this weekend has been challenging. I gained quite a lot from watching Kimi [Antonelli] yesterday. Singapore’s not been the kindest to me, so I’m not getting too carried away. This guy on my left [Verstappen] is pretty good into the first corner.”
Max Verstappen: “It could have been close if it wasn’t for a car cruising two seconds in front of me.” Who is he talking about? “Not Oscar,” he says, pointing to Piastri. So I think we can assume he means Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri: “I don’t think we had [the pace] to get pole, but it’s been a good weekend so far. A pretty clean session, all I could ask for.” Verstappen is still absolutely fuming.
Sunday’s provisional starting grid
1. George Russell (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
5. Lando Norris (McLaren)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
8. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
10. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
11. Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)
12. Alex Albon (Williams)
13. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
14. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
15. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
16. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
19. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
20. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Q3 leaderboard
1) George Russell (Mercedes) 1:29.158
2) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
5) Lando Norris (McLaren)
6) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
7) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
8) Isack Hadjar (RacingBulls)
9) Oliver Bearman (Haas)
10) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
George Russell takes Singapore GP pole
Verstappen can’t cut the gap, backing off late in his lap, and Mercedes’ George Russell has his first pole position since Canada – where he went on to win the race. The Red Bull is second, with Oscar Piastri in third place.
Q3: Russell improves his time by a few hundredths as Hamilton goes close to the wall … Verstappen looks Russell’s only rival for pole position. Both Ferraris fail to displace Norris in fifth.
Q3: Norris skirts around Piastri and sets off on his hot lap. He’s two tenths down early on, and can only manage fifth place, with the two Ferraris poised to overtake …
Q3: The current order is 1) Russell 2) Verstappen 3) Piastri 4) Antonelli 5) Norris 6) Hamilton 7) Leclerc 8) Hadjar 9) Bearman 10) Alonso, with most of the drivers on their out lap. It’s now or never …
Q3: Five minutes to go as the big hitters head back to the paddock for a tune-up. The McLarens have been heading out later on, hoping that the track will speed up. They haven’t been able to match Verstappen and Russell’s pace so far …
Q3: Better from Oscar Piastri, who is 0.359s behind Russell. Verstappen is next to cross the line and is quicker than Piastri, but can’t take the Mercedes man off provisional pole.
Q3: There are also three rookies in the top 10 – Antonelli, Isack Hadjar and Ollie Bearman, who squeezed into 10th for Haas. Bearman is first to post a time but is quickly overtaken by Russell, who is millimetres from clipping a corner as he sets a mark of 1:29.165 …
Q3 is under way
Twelve minutes that could be key to the title race. Can McLaren find more pace? Are Mercedes in contention for pole? Or will Max Verstappen top qualifying here for the first time? Let’s find out …
Q2 leaderboard
1) George Russell (Mercedes)
2) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
4) Lando Norris (McLaren)
5) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
6) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
8) Isack Hadjar (RacingBulls)
9) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
10) Oliver Bearman (Haas)
————————————
11) Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)
12) Alex Albon (Williams)
13) Carlos Sainz (Williams)
14) Liam Lawson (RacingBulls)
15) Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
Leclerc escapes! Facing a late dash to avoid a first Q2 elimination since 2018, he vaults into sixth place, just ahead of Hamilton.
Albon and Sainz are both eliminated along with Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg, who is just squeezed out of the top 10.
Q2: Into a frantic final lap with the Williams of Albon and Sainz in P9 and P10, and in danger of dropping into the elimination zone. Sainz has dropped in fact, replaced by Fernando Alonso. But can Charles Leclerc survive Q2?
Q2: Antonelli delivers under pressure and sets a new fastest time of 1:29.562. Mercedes cohort George Russell – who will face no further action for a yellow flag infringement – overtakes the Italian, and holds off Verstappen by one tenth of a second.
Q2: Hamilton is able to split Piastri and Norris to go into third place, in a much stronger position than his Ferrari teammate. Antonelli is racing to set a time that stands while Verstappen is on a new set of tyres as he aims to stay on top …
Q2: Lawson, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Albon and Antonelli are in the danger zone with five minutes to go – but times are tight and anyone can still escape. Leclerc needs to find about four tenths of a second to be sure of a top-10 spot.
Q2: Leclerc’s first lap time leaves him down in P13 as he clips the wall on Turn 14, and he’ll need a big improvement with his final run. Alex Albon, who scraped into Q2 in 15th place, is still at the bottom of the pile.
Q2: Antonelli has that time deleted after exceeding track limits, while Norris and Piastri up the pace, the Australian now second, 0.076s behind Verstappen.
Q2: Every driver on soft tyres, trying to squeeze every millisecond out of their hot laps. George Russell goes fourth-fastest but is overtaken by Antonelli, who now sits second.
Q2: Verstappen, seeking his first pole at Marina Bay, shaves three tenths of a second off his best Q1 time and takes an early lead. Hadjar, Sainz, Bearman and Albon are the others to post a time so far …
Q2 is under way
After a couple of minutes’ extra delay, the 15-minute second qualifying session is up and running …
There’s a slight delay to the start of Q2 while Pierre Gasly’s stricken Alpine is towed away. We’ll be under way in three minutes.
Q1 leaderboard
It’s a British 1-2-3 as Mercedes and Ferrari find some pace – but Oscar Piastri could only finish seventh-fastest.
1) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
2) George Russell (Mercedes)
3) Lando Norris (McLaren)
4) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
6) Isack Hadjar (RacingBulls)
7) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
9) Oliver Bearman (Haas)
10) Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
11) Carlos Sainz (Williams)
12) Liam Lawson (RacingBulls)
13) Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)
14) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
15) Alex Albon (Williams)
———————————
16) Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
17) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18) Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
19) Esteban Ocon (Haas)
20) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
In the end, no major surprises as the bottom five bow out: Gasly is joined by Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
Q1: All 20 cars still out on track with a minute to go, and the leaderboard could be reshuffled dramatically. Lewis Hamilton moves to the top of the charts – and there’s a late yellow flag after Pierre Gasly suffers a hydraulics issue and comes to a halt. Tsunoda, who was in front of Gasly, moves up to 10th.
Q1: Antonelli finally posts a time, and is up to second – which suggests the track is getting quicker. The current bottom five: Bortoleto, Hulkenburg, Ocon, Gasly and Tsunoda.
Q1: Piastri is up to sixth place, but can’t be certain that his lap time will be enough, with four minutes left to improve it. Antonelli is yet to post a time, with Sainz investigated – but cleared – after potentially impeding the Italian. Lando Norris jumps up to first place, and Liam Lawson has moved up to 10th.
Q1: Ferrari look to have better pace than in final practice, with Hamilton 0.002s behind Verstappen and Leclerc in third. Or fourth, now, as Hadjar vaults back to the top. Drivers currently in trouble include Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, but there’s still plenty of time for things to change …
Q1: Eight minutes to go, with Verstappen’s 1:30.317 still the time to beat – although Haas driver Ollie Bearman has unexpectedly shot up to second place. Piastri, Antonelli and Alonso are the only three drivers yet to post a lap time …
Q1: Oscar Piastri also has to abandon his first attempt, and comes in for a new set of soft tyres. The Australian is frustrated by a yellow flag – “you can’t give a yellow flag for someone getting out of the way”, he complains over the McLaren radio.
Q1: Hamilton loses grip through a chicane and has to abandon his first attempt at setting a competitive lap. Much better on the second time round, with the Ferrari sitting behind Verstappen.
We saw a record-breaking six red flags in qualifying last time out amid wind and rain in Baku. No such problems with the weather in Singapore, where Isack Hadjar currently holds the fastest lap.
Q1 begins
The 18-minute opening session is off to a very low-key start, with drivers queuing along the pit lane and the pole contenders still tuning up in the team garages.
Five minutes until Q1, where the five drivers with the slowest lap times will be eliminated, and face starting towards the back of the grid tomorrow.
Hamilton cleared of red flag infringement
Official word from the race stewards that Lewis Hamilton will face no further action, having been cleared of a red flag infringement in final practice. The Ferrari driver was investigated over his speed after Liam Lawson’s crash brought an end to the session.
“While the stewards consider that a greater reduction of speed would have been desirable under the circumstances, it has concluded that there is no evidence of a breach of the applicable regulations,” the official verdict read.
Fifteen minutes or so until Q1 gets under way, with the sun setting over Singapore. Here are some snaps from earlier in the day …
Sky are reporting that Lewis Hamilton won’t face any further action for that potential red-flag infringement during final practice earlier. Not official yet, but it seems there won’t be a grid penalty for the Ferrari driver.
The Singapore Grand Prix, F1’s first night race, has been on the calendar since 2008, save for two missed years due to Covid in 2020 and 2021. The inaugural winner is still an active F1 driver: Fernando Alonso, who won for Renault in 2008 and 2010. Sebastian Vettel has won here five times – three in a row for Red Bull from 2011-13, and for Ferrari in 2015 and 2019.
Lewis Hamilton has four previous wins at Marina Bay, prevailing in 2009, 2014, 2017 and 2018 while his former Mercedes cohort, Nico Rosberg, won here in his 2016 title season. The last three races have been won by Sergio Pérez (2022), Carlos Sainz (2023) and Lando Norris last year. As I mentioned earlier, no Max Verstappen on the roll of honour – yet.
Sunday’s Grand Prix will be F1’s first ‘heat hazard’ race, under a new rule introduced this year. Temperatures could be as high as 31°C for the night race, with humidity also playing a big part. It means every car will be fitted with heat-reduction systems including cooling vests – although it’s not mandatory for drivers to wear them during the race.
Mercedes driver George Russell said: “Not everybody finds the top comfortable … but the concept is good, and when you’re racing in 90% humidity and the cockpits are getting on for 60°C, it’s a bit of a sauna inside the car, so I think we all welcome it.”
Constructors’ standings
To be champions for a 10th time, McLaren just need to score 13 points from the six remaining races – a target they should pass this weekend. Even if they don’t, Mercedes or Ferrari will need to outscore them by 31 or 35 points respectively to prevent McLaren from retaining their title in Singapore. Red Bull are already out of the race.
1) McLaren 623pts
2) Mercedes 290pts
3) Ferrari 286pts
4) Red Bull 272pts
5) Williams 101pts
6) RacingBulls 72pts
7) Aston Martin 62pts
8) Sauber 55pts
9) Haas 44pts
10) Alpine 20pts
Drivers’ standings
1) Oscar Piastri [Aus] McLaren 324pts
2) Lando Norris [GB] McLaren 299pts
3) Max Verstappen [Neth] Red Bull 255pts
4) George Russell [GB] Mercedes 212pts
5) Charles Leclerc [Mon] Ferrari 165pts
6) Lewis Hamilton [GB] Ferrari 121pts
7) Kimi Antonelli [It] Mercedes 78pts
8) Alex Albon [Thai] Williams 70pts
9) Isack Hadjar [Fr] RacingBulls 39pts
10) Nico Hülkenberg [Ger] Sauber 37pts
Can Max still win it?
To win a fifth title in a row, Max Verstappen must score an average of 10 more points than Oscar Piastri in every race to overhaul him in the drivers’ standings. There are still 199 race and sprint winner points up for grabs.
Hamilton could face grid penalty
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is under investigation for a potential red flag infringement in the final practice session, which was stopped after RacingBulls driver Liam Lawson crashed. Stewards are looking at whether Hamilton sped up through a chicane while under the red flag; if found guilty, he will face a grid penalty on Sunday.
Preamble
Max Verstappen is muscling his way back into the title race after winning the last two grands prix – but to really turn up the heat on Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, he needs to do something he’s never done before in his F1 career: win in Singapore.
Marina Bay is the only circuit on the current calendar he is yet to conquer; doing so this weekend would send a strong statement across the pit lane to his McLaren rivals. After setting the fastest time in today’s final practice – a slender 0.017sec ahead of Piastri with Norris fifth – the defending champion knows today’s qualifying could be pivotal.
Singapore is one of the calendar’s best races for pole-sitters, with 10 of the 15 official grands prix won by the driver who topped qualifying – including Norris last year. Verstappen has never taken pole position here, either; Red Bull will hope that one piece of history will follow another this weekend. Qualifying begins at 2pm (BST).
