YAS MARINA, Singapore — Max Verstappen clinched pole position for the Singapore Sprint during a busy session under the lights Friday at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
With four teams seemingly in the mix after a single hour of Free Practice, the Red Bull driver timed his final lap to perfection to eclipse the efforts of each of his rivals, ending the session with a time of 1 minute and 31.156 seconds.
Following an investigation for a potential yellow flag infringement in SQ1, it was confirmed that the Dutchman would hold onto pole position.
His lap on the soft tires left him 0.120s clear of Mercedes driver George Russell. Ferrari ace Charles Leclerc was a further tenth back in third.
“This was unexpected in Singapore, but I’m very happy to finish first today,” Verstappen said. “We’ve been a lot stronger over the last few races, but this is a track that tends to highlight some of our weaknesses, and we had a few difficulties with the car early on. We managed to get the most out of it, and once we bolted on the Soft tyres the car really started to come alive.
“The extra grip gave us more confidence and stability in places where it had felt a bit uncertain before. Qualifying is the main goal tomorrow, along with making sure we get a good start. We’ll do our best and see what happens, but it’s been a positive way to start the weekend.”
The McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took fourth and fifth, respectively, with the Aussie just 0.055 seconds adrift of Leclerc’s time.
Lewis Hamilton was sixth in the second Ferrari ahead of Kimi Antonelli – the leader of the Drivers’ Championship – and Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson.
Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 for Red Bull and Alpine with both having lap times deleted in SQ3.
