Singapore GP Sprint Qualifying: Teams and Drivers Share Feedback

Teams and drivers have reviewed a day in Singapore that included a red flag, timing confusion and software problems. Max Verstappen kept his pole position after the stewards decided he had no case to answer in the yellow flag investigation. The sprint will start with Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc on the front rows.

Red Bull said Verstappen’s 1:31.156 secured pole by more than a tenth of a second. Neither Verstappen nor Hadjar had run the softs in practice, so their true pace was unclear heading into qualifying. Hadjar lost his lap to track limits in SQ3 and set no time. Verstappen said the car came alive once the softs went on. Red Bull head of race strategy Hannah Schmitz said the disrupted SQ1 limited data, but pole was a big result for the team.

It was a two-sided day for Mercedes. Russell, running the pre-upgrade car after last weekend’s issues, took second. Antonelli stayed on the latest upgrade, but even after switching back to the old front wing he finished seventh, over half a second behind Russell. Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said the team needs to understand why the update is not bringing the expected step, with Antonelli lacking confidence under braking and on corner entry. Russell said the pole side of the grid should carry an advantage in the sprint and that his goal is to hold second.

At Ferrari, Leclerc was third and will start on the grippy side of the grid. Hamilton said he tried a different run plan in SQ3 that, in hindsight, was not the right call, and that he struggled with rear grip on the softs. Team principal Fred Vasseur said the cars were better on mediums than softs.

At McLaren, Piastri was fourth and Norris fifth, with the car issue that troubled Norris believed to be fixed. Team principal Andrea Stella said having four different cars in the top four shows how tight the field is, and that the team is back in a situation similar to before Baku. Piastri said they struggled on the mediums, but the car came alive on softs.

In the midfield, Liam Lawson was a strong eighth for Racing Bulls, while Arvid Lindblad went out in SQ1. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly made SQ3, but his lap was deleted for track limits and he was tenth. At Audi, Hulkenberg had a gearbox issue in FP1, which the team fixed in time for qualifying, and both cars reached SQ2. Alonso made SQ2 in a sign of Aston Martin’s progress. Haas drivers Bearman and Ocon are running different car specifications.

The biggest talking point was Williams. Team principal James Vowles said an issue with how overtake mode was activated after the SQ1 red flag affected lap times, and he expects the FIA to investigate. Sainz said he lost power on his flying lap. Both Williams cars went out in SQ1, with Sainz last. At Cadillac, Perez hit the wall at Turn 4, lost his front wing and caused the red flag.

Pirelli chief engineer Simone Berra said track evolution was very significant and that lap times tomorrow could be even quicker than forecast. He said tyre warm-up was the main differentiator between teams, that the gap between the soft and medium is around eight to nine tenths, and that both compounds look viable for the sprint, which could lead to a split in strategy.