F1’s return to Singapore was treated with a thrilling semi-wet session where Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc snatched the pole in the dying seconds of the session. He was followed by Sergio Perez in the Red Bull but reigning world champion Max Verstappen had to abandon his final lap where he was on track to qualify on pole because of low fuel in his car. He only managed to qualify in P8 on a track that is difficult to overtake. Lewis Hamilton in a rejuvenated came P3 in qualifying ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.
Fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso managed P5 for Alpine while his teammate Esteban Ocon got knocked out in Q1 when the track was wet. He managed just P18. Lando Norris in the McLaren was again exceptional as he managed P6 while his outgoing teammate Ricciardo struggled again for just P17 as he also didn’t make it out of Q1.
Pierre Gasly was impressive in P7 for AlphaTauri and Kevin Magnussen was the lead Haas in P9. Tsunoda for AlphaTauri managed P10. George Russell had a horror show as he struggled to make it to Q3 and the Mercedes driver just managed P11. He was followed by Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin in P12. His soon-to-be retiring teammate Sebastian Vettel just managed P14. He was beaten by his prodigy Mick Schumacher who managed P13 for Haas.
The Alfa Romeo duo of Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas managed P15 and P16. Similarly, the Williams duo of Albon and Latifi capped off the grid with P19 and P20.
Qualifying classification
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:49.412
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull + 0.022
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes + 0.054
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari + 0.171
5 Fernando Alonso Alpine + 0.554
6 Lando Norris McLaren + 1.172
7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri + 1.799
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull + 1.983
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas + 2.161
10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri + 2.571
11 George Russell Mercedes 1:54.012
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.199
13 Mick Schumacher Haas F1 Team +0.358
14 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +0.368
15 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo +1.506
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:56.083
17 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +0.143
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.254
19 Alexander Albon Williams +0.902
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams +1.449
