Red hot Leclerc seizes third pole in a row besting Hamilton and Vettel at tricky Marina Bay Street Circuit
Ferrari’s ascendent young phenom Charles Leclerc, winner of the previous two Grand Prix from pole position, made it three poles in a row in Saturday qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix tomorrow night, laying down a blistering lap late in Q3 to steal the top starting spot away from not only his teammate Sebastian Vettel but also the rival Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. After performing so well at the last two high speed circuits, Spa Francorchamps and Monza, which also saw Leclerc win in dominant fashion, the Prancing Horses were expected to falter at the narrow and technically demanding confines of the tightly contained though beautifully illuminated Marina Bay Street Circuit. But instead Ferrari’s latest downforce upgrades merged perfectly with their horsepower advantage and Mercedes quickly found themselves surprised by the speed of the Scuderia’s blood red steeds on this corner-filled street circuit. Vettel appeared to lay down the time to beat early in the last qualifying session and the Silver Arrows of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas found themselves tangled up in traffic and behind not only he and his speedy teammate but also the Red Bull of Max Vertsappen.
But with time running out Vettel could not improve and had to abort his last flying lap after a series of small errors. Meanwhile his upstart stablemate Leclerc pushed the very limits of adhesion, throwing his SF90 around around the many corners of this street circuit with controlled abandon. The rapidly improving Monegasque came across the line at 1:36.217, more than 2-tenths better than Vettel’s early fast lap. Mercedes wisely had released their men at the very last moment this time and well behind the rest of the gaggle of cars on this cramped track, leaving their men free to fly unencumbered by traffic. Hamilton made the most of that and also tested the track limits by kissing the wall once or twice during his strong final run. But despite his excellent effort the Englishman still found himself trailing Leclerc by just under 2-tenths as the checkered flag flew. Hamilton will line up along the pole-sitting Leclerc in P2 with Vettel a somewhat disappointed P3. It is now clear that Ferrari are finally able to take the fight to Mercedes and compete for wins on equal terms regardless of the circuit. And in Leclerc they may just have found the rare driver who can better Hamilton on a regular basis, as well.
When all was said and done Verstappen could only set the fourth fastest time but still had enough pace to relegate Bottas to P5 on the grid. His rookie Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon acquitted himself very well in his first-ever visit to this ultra-demanding circuit and qualified P6. Rounding out the top 10 on the grid the McLarens sandwiched the two Renaults, with P7 Carlos Sainz starting ahead of P8 Daniel Ricciardo and P9 Nico Hulkenberg and Sainz’s teammate Lando Norris behind them with the tenth fastest time.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:38.014 | 1:36.650 | 1:36.217 | 18 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:37.565 | 1:36.933 | 1:36.408 | 19 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | FERRARI | 1:38.374 | 1:36.720 | 1:36.437 | 16 |
| 4 | 33 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 1:38.540 | 1:37.089 | 1:36.813 | 15 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | MERCEDES | 1:37.317 | 1:37.142 | 1:37.146 | 18 |
| 6 | 23 | Alexander Albon | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 1:39.106 | 1:37.865 | 1:37.411 | 16 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | MCLAREN RENAULT | 1:38.882 | 1:37.982 | 1:37.818 | 19 |
| 8 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RENAULT | 1:39.362 | 1:38.399 | 1:38.095 | 18 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | RENAULT | 1:39.001 | 1:38.580 | 1:38.264 | 18 |
| 10 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN RENAULT | 1:38.606 | 1:37.572 | 1:38.329 | 19 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
Tomorrow’s race airs live starting at 8AM on ESPN2 here in the States. Can Leclerc make it 3 wins in a row or will Hamilton reassert his authority as the top driver in the F1 paddock? Can Vettel surprise from P3 for a much-needed victory of his own in a season that is slipping away from him? Or will young Max have some tricks up his sleeve to pass his rivals and make a run towards victory? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!