Max Verstappen took pole position for the F1 Sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.
Can he make it two in a row on Saturday?
The big points, of course, are handed out on Sunday. And if you want to win the big points on Sunday in the Singapore Grand Prix you need to be starting up front, as the tight, narrow Marina Bay Street Circuit does not make for easy overtaking.
We’ll be following qualifying, which gets underway at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, live here and on the new SB Nation app. So check back often to see how the session unfolds!
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Singapore Grand Prix provisional grid
Here is the provisional starting grid for the Singapore Grand Prix, which will be filled in throughout the qualifying hour:
Row |
Position |
Driver |
Team |
Position |
Driver |
Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| Row 2 | 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 4 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| Row 3 | 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 6 | George Russell | Mercedes |
| Row 4 | 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
| Row 5 | 9 | Liam Lawson | VCARB | 10 | Arvid Lindblad | VCARB |
| Row 6 | 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 12 | Oliver Bearman | Haas |
| Row 7 | 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 14 | Carlos Sainz | Williams |
| Row 8 | 15 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine |
| Row 9 | 17 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 18 | Alexander Albon | Williams |
| Row 10 | 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 20 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac |
| Row 11 | 21 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 22 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull |
How qualifying unfolded
Here is how the qualifying hour unfolded. All updates are in Eastern time.
10:33: Russell qualifies sixth, but remember he’ll drop to the back of the grid tomorrow due to the penalty.
10:32: Not a lot of improvement at the end of Q3. Leclerc moves to Q2, but it is Max Verstappen’s day. He takes pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in his career. (Yes, he took Sprint pole yesterday but this is the first Singapore Grand Prix pole for him).
10:25: Verstappen, Hamilton, Antonelli, Leclerc, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Lawson, Gasly, and Lindblad the pecking order after the first Q3 runs.
Max versus Lewis for pole?
10:19: Q3 underway, all ten drivers are on the track.
10:17: Q3 is about to begin in Singapore.
10:12: Hülkenberg, Bearman, Ocon, Sainz, Bortoleto, and Colapinto are the six out at the end of Q2.
10:10: One minute left in quali. Gasly, Ocon, Bearman, Sainz, Bortoleto, and Colapinto still the bottom six
10:08: Piastri gets into the top five with a lap good for fifth, dropping Verstappen down to P6.
10:07: At the sharp end, Hamilton leads the way ahead of Norris, Antonelli, Leclerc, and Verstappen.
10:05: Almost five minutes left in Q2 and Gasly, Ocon, Bearman, Sainz, Colapinto, and Bortoleto are the six drivers in the drop zone.
10:04: Bortoleto with a big slide, but he keeps his Audi on the track and out of the walls.
10:02: “Insanely, insanely bad shifts. Downshifts are bad,” reports Verstappen.
Death, taxes, and Verstappen frustrated with the gear shifts in his challenger.
9:57: Q2 is underway. Clock ticking down from 15 minutes.
9:55: Q2 about to begin, drivers are lining up at the end of pit lane.
9:50: Alonso, Albon, Stroll, Pérez, Bottas, and Hadjar are the six drivers out in Q1.
9:49: Checkered flag is out, final lap times are coming in. Alonso and Hadjar the first to eliminated but four more will join them.
9:46: Hadjar is climbing out of his RB22, and his qualifying hour is over.
9:44: Hamilton goes purple through Sectors 1 and 2, and jumps to P1.
9:43: Five minutes left in Q1 and the six drivers in the drop zone are Lindblad, Albon, Perez, Bottas, Bortoleto, and Hadjar.
9:42: Seven minutes left in Q1 and Norris is still at the top of the table with a 1:33.047. Piastri in P2 0.029 seconds behind him.
9:40: Times are coming in with now nine minutes left in Q1, and Norris leads the way ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton, Antonelli, and Colapinto.
9:38: Russell reports that he is “smelling fire,” and asks the team to keep an eye on the brakes.
9:36: More trouble for Hadjar. “The engine is off,” reports the driver. He’s come to a stop on the track.
9:33: Ocon has gone deep and into the wall at Turn 13, a low-speed lefthander. He’s going again, but reports that he “had no brakes.”
9:30: Green light in Marina Bay, qualifying is underway.
9:28: Cars already lined up at the end of pit lan, and it looks like Russell will be ready to go.
9:26: The best sign that a session is right around the corner? Opening titles are playing on the broadcast.
9:12: Speculation that Russell’s car will not be ready for the start of qualifying, even with the delay. But Russell is facing the big grid drop, so this session is not as critical for him as it is the rest of the grid.
9:08: Qualifying will get underway at 9:30 p.m. local time, 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
9:05: Still in a delay, pre-quali show talking about driver transfer options for VCARB.
8:56: The start of qualifying has been delayed, and we are waiting on a start time.
What happened in the F1 Sprint race?
In a word?
Chaos.
Downpours over sections of the track caused a delayed start, and when the lights finally went out Russell took the lead from Verstappen at the start … but a “silly” crash on the opening lap ended his day early. Later in the race the McLarens tangled which ended Oscar Piastri’s day early, as Piastri and Lando Norris touched briefly, sending both cars into a spin.
At the checkered flag, it was Verstappen at the front, followed by Hamilton and Leclerc. Antonelli rebounded from a subpar F1 Sprint qualifying session to finish fourth, with Lawson, Bearman, Hülkenberg, and Norris rounding out the points finishers.
