By Robert Haile
The streets of Singapore provided one of the most exhilarating qualifying sessions of the season as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took pole position.
In a delayed qualifying at the Marina Bay Circuit after a big crash from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at the end of the first session both Ferrari drivers guided their cars through to the top ten shootout.
The Tifosi were given extra to cheer as the Prancing Horse took pole position and third with Sainz beating Mercedes’ George Russell as Charles Leclerc followed him for a consecutive front and second row start.
Speaking afterwards Sainz said: “It feels great to get pole position here on the streets of Singapore.
“Yesterday we already saw we were competitive and I think we’ve done a good job building up to qualifying. Q3 was super tight but we managed to pull off good clean laps and grab that P1.
“The race won’t be easy due to the degradation but it is key to stay focused today and prepare well for tomorrow.
“The team has been working flat out and we deserve a good result. We’ll definitely go for it.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris took fourth with Mercedes Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth as Kevin Magnussen was the lead Haas in sixth.
The only Aston Martin left was Fernando Alonso who took seventh with Esteban Ocon in eighth for Alpine with Nico Hulkenberg the second Haas in ninth and Liam Lawson making the top ten for the first time in tenth for AlphaTauri.
For the first time in five years neither Red Bull made the top ten with Max Verstappen in eleventh 0.007 seconds behind Lawson and Sergio Perez in thirteenth split by Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
Alex Albon’s run to qualifying 3 for Williams came to an end with a fourteenth and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda did not set a time
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll will start at the back of the grid after a crash at the end of qualifying.
Bringing out the Red Flag the session ended with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, Williams Logan Sargeant and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri unable to improve.
The starting order could change as a messy first qualifying session left race control with lots to look at.
The Singapore Grand Prix race starts at 1pm (13:00) GMT on Sunday, September 17.
Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
- Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
- Alex Albon (Williams)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
- Vallteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Logan Sargeant (Williams)
- Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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