SINGAPORE GP – Lando Norris beats Max Verstappen to pole by two-tenths
Lando Norris has beaten Max Verstappen by two tenths to secure pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, the McLaren driver set a 29.525 putting himself ahead of his championship rival. Norris has looked competitive all weekend while Red Bull turned it around after struggling for pace in practice.
Norris needs a strong finish to the season if he is going to challenge Verstappen for the championship, on average he needs to outscore him by eight points at each race to secure the title. Verstappen however was pleased with his performance given where Red Bull were last weekend and in practice.
The final part of qualifying came down to a one-lap shoot-out for pole position with half the top ten running out of time to set a lap time, after Carlos Sainz crashed at the start of his flying lap. Verstappen will be counting his blessings as the accident would have likely saved him from being knocked further down the order.
Sainz was preparing for his final go in Q3 when he crashed in the closing stages of the session when he was starting his lap. McLaren got the timing right and while there was no climax to the session, allowing Norris to take pole at circuit where overtaking is more challenging
Norris said, “It was tough, especially through qualifying. I was finding it a little difficult to progress much and gain a lot of lap time. And all of the guys around seemed to get quicker and quicker, so it put me under a bit more pressure, especially with just one lap at the end.”
“It was good enough for pole and I’m happy with that, especially here in Singapore. A good feeling. I’ve felt good all weekend, I’ve felt confident, maybe not so much in qualy but we got the job done.”
Verstappen, who had been unhappy with his car in Friday practice, said: “The whole of qualifying went quite well. We managed to improve the car. I am happy to be on the front row if you look at where we came from yesterday. Everyone only has one lap so you don’t want to overdo it. I take second, I’m happy with that.”
Red Bull had their worst race of the year in Singapore last year and looks to be in trouble looking at their performances in practice. Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes third the seven-time champion four tenths almost off Norris and ahead of his teammate George Russell by a quarter of a tenth. Oscar Piastri was fifth fastest going almost a tenth behind the two Mercedes.
Haas had another strong qualifying with Nico Hulkenberg going sixth a tenth ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso while Yuki Tsunoda was eighth ahead of both Ferrari’s. Sainz’s accident where he crashed at the start of the lap after going wide out of the final corner also prevented teammate Charles Leclerc from improving. As at the time his lap was deleted.
But Leclerc’s time was only good enough for seventh ahead of Alonso and Tsunoda on what has been a tough weekend for Ferrari with both drivers not setting a time in Q3 and rounding out the top ten. Ferrari issues seemed to be getting the front and rear tyres to the correct temperature at the same time.
It was another strong session for Williams, Alex Albon missing out on the final part of qualifying by a hundred and half while his teammate Franco Colopintio six thousandths behind.
It was another difficult session for Sergio Perez who was again knocked out in Q2 going nearly a tenth off. Questions about the Mexican’s future have shifted to Daniel Ricciardo, with rumours he could be replaced by Liam Lawson for Austin. Perez was just over eight hundredths faster than Kevin Magnussen, the Haas driver returning from a one-race ban. Magnussen was a tenth faster than Esteban Ocon.
Ricciardo was fastest of those knocked out in Q1, he was just over a tenth behind Ocon at the end of the session while his weekend started strongly he appears to have slipped away as the session progressed.
Also knocked out was Lance Stroll who was just shy of a hundred behind the RB and Pierre Gasly could only manage eighteenth ahead of both Sauber’s. Valtteri Bottas just under half a second faster than teammate Guanyu Zhou.
Related
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- SINGAPORE GP – Lando Norris fastest six hundredths ahead of Charles Leclerc in second practice
- SINGAPORE GP – Charles Leclerc fastest by three quarters of a tenth ahead of Lando Norris in first practice
- Welcome to the Singapore Grand Prix
- PRIXVIEW – Singapore Grand Prix