George Russell posted a couple of stunning Q3 laps to claim pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, eclipsing Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in another pulsating Qualifying session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
After topping Q2, Russell carried that momentum through to the decisive pole shootout by pumping in a time of 1m 29.165s on his first lap out of the pits – the Mercedes man tapping the concrete walls as he pushed his car to the limits under the lights.
Russell found seven more thousandths on his final lap to get down to a 1m 29.158s and, despite their best efforts, none of his rivals had an answer, meaning the Briton will start from the front of the grid for the second time this season after June’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Red Bull driver Verstappen swore over the radio in frustration after finishing 0.182s down on Russell in second, with Piastri leading the McLaren charge in third over the Silver Arrow of Kimi Antonelli and team mate Lando Norris.
Ferrari did not quite have the pace to fight for pole as they wound up sixth and seventh, with Lewis Hamilton a tenth up on team mate Charles Leclerc, who recovered from a scare in Q2 that involved him sitting in the drop zone before his final effort.
Isack Hadjar was one of the stars of Qualifying as he dragged his Racing Bulls car to eighth, while Haas’ Ollie Bearman and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso were similarly impressive on their way to ninth and 10th.
Nico Hulkenberg put some recent tricky Qualifying sessions behind him to spearhead Kick Sauber’s challenge and secure a solid 11th on the grid, edging out Williams pair Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson did well to recover from crashes in FP2 and FP3 to reach Q2 and challenge for a Q3 spot, but ultimately had to settle for 14th over Yuki Tsunoda, whose recent progress at Red Bull has not yet carried over to Singapore.
Gabriel Bortoleto missed out on joining fellow Sauber driver Hulkenberg in Q2 by a matter of hundredths, placing 16th over the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, who also struggled relative to his double World Champion team mate Alonso.
Alpine endured their latest tough Qualifying session en route to 18th and 20th with Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly respectively (the Frenchman stopping out on track late in Q1), while Esteban Ocon wound up 19th aboard the other Haas.
More to follow.
