Max Verstappen edges Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to claim F1 Singapore GP pole

Max Verstappen beat the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to claim pole position at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. 

Four-time world champion Verstappen made it two poles in as many days with a stunning lap to beat Leclerc by just 0.054 seconds to top qualifying for the 50th time in his F1 career. 

Hamilton looked the favourite to claim a first pole in three years after setting the pace in Q1 and Q2, but the seven-time world champion was fighting his Ferrari on both of his Q3 efforts as he ended up third and 0.123s adrift. 

F1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli was fourth-fastest and nearly two tenths off the blistering pace set by Verstappen, with reigning world champion Lando Norris fifth in his McLaren. 

George Russell was sixth-fastest but will start at the back after exceeding his permitted allocation of power unit components for the season with Mercedes fitting a new engine in the back of his W17 after his failure last time out in Malaysia. 

Oscar Piastri took seventh in the second McLaren, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly eighth ahead of the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad.

Nico Hulkenberg was 11th-fastest for Audi ahead of the Haas pair of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, who took 12th and 13th respectively. 

Carlos Sainz was the fastest Williams driver in 14th, ahead of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto, who could only manage 16th in his Alpine after hitting the wall at the penultimate corner on his final push lap. 

Fernando Alonso narrowly missed out on a spot in the second part of qualifying, with the Aston Martin driver eliminated in 17th place, ahead of Williams driver Alex Albon and Lance Stroll. 

The two Cadillacs were the slowest drivers to set a lap time in Q1 as Sergio Perez once again outpaced team-mate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying.  

Isack Hadjar suffered a nightmare qualifying with the Frenchman unable to complete a push lap after encountering a gearbox issue in his RB22, leaving him right at the back of the grid along with Russell.