Leclerc seizes pole on damp Marina Bay streets as Verstappen undone by Red Bull’s faulty fuel calculations; Perez salvages P2, Hamilton excels in P3
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was able to master the tricky conditions of a damp and barely drying Marina Bay Street Circuit during an exciting Saturday qualifying to grab pole for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix. With a downpour prior to quali and highly humid conditions for this night session under the lights of this beautiful Southeast Asian city-state, the street course stubbornly refused to dry and the main contenders were forced onto Intermediate wet weather Pirellis for the first two rounds before finally making the move to slick tires for Q3. But the streets remained treacherously wet in certain areas and the drivers had to make the most of their skill and bravery to extract the maximum pace from their cars. After a lot of swapping of fast times between Leclerc and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton it was the Monegasque who took the fastest time when the checkers flew. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ended up pipping Hamilton for P2 and the English seven-time world champion had to settle for a still-impressive P3 spot on the grid, especially in light of his teammate George Russell getting bounced in Q2 with only the eleventh fastest time. The other Red Bull of points leader Max Verstappen appeared to be on a very competitive final flying lap but had to abort when he was abruptly called in to the pits before being able to complet it. It turned out that the team feared he would not have the FIA-required amount of fuel remaining in his tanks for a sample if he had gone full gas to the end. The infuriated Dutchman will have to start from back in P8 on the grid, and while Verstappen isa master of the comeback, this tight and twisty circuit is essentially as difficult to overtake on as Monaco and he will surely have his work cut out for him on race day. Perhaps the Red Bull braintrust will make amends for their fuel miscalculation and come up with a strategic plan to move Max closer to the front and closer yet to his second consecutive Championship.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:
| OS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:54.129 | 1:52.343 | 1:49.412 | |
| 2 | 1:54.404 | 1:52.818 | 1:49.434 | |
| 3 | 1:53.161 | 1:52.691 | 1:49.466 | |
| 4 | 1:54.559 | 1:53.219 | 1:49.583 | |
| 5 | 1:55.360 | 1:53.127 | 1:49.966 | |
| 6 | 1:55.914 | 1:53.942 | 1:50.584 | |
| 7 | 1:55.606 | 1:53.546 | 1:51.211 | |
| 8 | 1:53.057 | 1:52.723 | 1:51.395 | |
| 9 | 1:55.103 | 1:54.006 | 1:51.573 | |
| 10 | 1:55.314 | 1:53.848 | 1:51.983 |
Complete qualifying results available via Fomrula1.com.
Tomorrow’s night race airs live at 8AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. Can Verstappen make up for his team’s strategy error and work his way to the front somehow? Or will Leclerc covert his pole position into his first victory in five races? And just whom will the walls of Marina Bay bite? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!