Two quick qualifying laps by the Mercedes driver put Verstappen behind him in second, with Piastri in third.
George Russell delivered two laps that were quick enough for pole position during qualifying for Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Russell flew around the streets of Marina Bay, banging the wall on the exit of Turn 17 on his first push lap in Q3, to set a new track record of 1 minute, 29.165 seconds, before improving on his next effort with a time of 1:29.158.
It marked Russell’s second pole position of the season, after his dominant performance in Canada in June, and comes at a circuit where track position is often vital.
“It’s been a challenging weekend to be fair, I’ve not been comfortable with the car, with myself, and it all came towards me in Q3,” Russell, who spun into the barriers during Friday practice, said.
“The end of Q2 was my first good lap of the weekend and it was first lap where I felt semi reasonable, I knew I had further margin. The grip has been really high but the cars have been sliding a lot and it feels reminiscent of Miami where it’s high grip but the car is sliding, the crash yesterday set me back, but I reminded myself it doesn’t matter on Friday, it’s Q3 that counts.”
Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen, who has never scored victory in Singapore, underlined Red Bull’s recent progress by qualifying in second position, 0.182 second behind Russell.
McLaren, which stands on the brink of clinching this year’s Constructors’ Championship, wound up with Oscar Piastri third and Lando Norris fifth.
Verstappen was frustrated that he was a few seconds behind a slow-moving Norris into Turn 16, catching the dirty air, which prompted him to abort his final Q3 push lap.
“It was close, the lap itself was coming nicely, but around here to nail all the corners is very tough, but I had a car like two seconds in front of me in the final chicane, you cannot have that kind of disturbance, that’s what happened, and I had to abort the lap,” Verstappen said. “Otherwise I think it would have been very close, it is what it is, so we move forward, this weekend has been a solid one, no major trouble, we’re always kind of there and I guess that’s good, and for us that’s very promising.”
The two McLarens were split Russell’s Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari was never in the mix for pole position and finished with Lewis Hamilton sixth and Charles Leclerc seventh.
Category: General Sports
