Singapore GP: Leclerc on pole, Verstappen only P8 in dramatic qualifying

Charles Leclerc will start on pole position after an enthralling qualifying session at the Singapore Grand Prix.

With the track very slowly to dry after heavy rain earlier in the day, drivers were playing a patience game waiting for the opportunity to switch to slicks.

Ultimately, despite several damp sections, that moment came in Q3, and Leclerc’s 1m49.412s in the closing minutes was good enough to beat Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, as just 0.054s covered the top three.

Championship leader Max Verstappen looked on course to smash the Monegasque’s pole position time.

But Red Bull had to abandon his final lap meaning the Dutchman will start only eighth on the grid on Sunday.

Q1

Verstappen set the pace at the front as all the drivers remained on intermediates despite large parts of the circuit appearing dry enough to slicks.

In the elimination zone, a good final lap for Mick Schumacher demoted Valtteri Bottas to 16th in the Alfa Romeo.

Daniel Ricciardo had another disappointing session in 17th, while Esteban Ocon, who had been leading the midfield in the dry, was perhaps the biggest surprise in 18th for Alpine.

Alex Albon was 19th, ahead of Nicholas Latifi as the two Williams’ brought up the grid.

Q2

Intermediates remained the tyre of choice in Q2 as Leclerc set the pace for Ferrari, three-tenths clear of Hamilton and Verstappen.

In the other Mercedes, however, George Russell was struggling and missed out on Q3 by just 0.006s in 11th. 

Aston Martin were the first team to take the gamble on soft slicks with both Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel.

But the track simply wasn’t offering the grip as the Canadian slipped to 12th and the five-time Singapore winner was 14th.

Mick Schumacher took 13th as Zhou Guanyu was the only other driver to try slicks in 15th.

Q3

With the track continuing to dry, only Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda remained on intermediates at the start of Q3.

It was Tsunoda though who would set the initial benchmark as the top teams still couldn’t find enough grip on the soft slicks.

Eventually, it was Hamilton who finally unlocked the performance, smashing the AlphaTauri’s time by two seconds in his Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion appeared set for pole too as he continued to find enough speed to counter the gains from the likes of Leclerc and Fernando Alonso.

Ultimately, it was Charles who set his fastest time late on and both Perez and Hamilton just fell short of beating the Ferrari in second and third respectively.

Verstappen though was significantly faster than Leclerc on his final two laps, but had to abandon both in the final sector.

The first time he ran wide in Turn 17 before Red Bull called off his final lap fearing disqualification for not having enough fuel to supply the necessary one-litre sample. 

As others improved, Max’s issues dropped him to eighth leaving him with plenty of work to do on Sunday.

Carlos Sainz will start fourth in the second Ferrari, ahead of Alonso in fifth. Lando Norris was sixth, followed by Pierre Gasly in seventh, despite two offs at Turn 18.

Magnussen was ninth and Tsunoda 10th as their initial laps on intermediates meant they lacked a few laps of confidence once on slicks.

Full results from qualifying can be seen below: