Verstappen's 50th pole: first Singapore pole ahead of both Ferraris
Max Verstappen takes pole in 1:31.373, 0.054s clear of Charles Leclerc. Leader Antonelli starts fourth, while Russell drops to the back after an engine change.
Photo: Jen Ross / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · FORMULA 1 · youtube.com
Max Verstappen has taken pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver set a best time of 1:31.373 in Saturday's qualifying, 0.054 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton (+0.123) completing the second row for Ferrari. According to SPEEDWEEK it is Verstappen's 50th Formula 1 pole and his first at the Marina Bay Street Circuit; Red Bull's last pole there came with Sebastian Vettel in 2013.
Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) qualified fourth ahead of Lando Norris. His team-mate George Russell was sixth but will start from the back after an engine change. Nico Hulkenberg narrowly missed Q3 in 11th for Audi; the stewards looked into whether he impeded Carlos Sainz but issued no penalty. With Russell's demotion, Hulkenberg moves up to tenth on the grid.
Before the race (14:00 CEST) Antonelli leads the standings on 325 points, 89 clear of Russell (236). Verstappen had already won Saturday's sprint and is now chasing his first Grand Prix victory in Singapore.