{"id":11137,"date":"2022-10-01T16:38:36","date_gmt":"2022-10-01T15:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f1vault.co.uk\/?p=11137"},"modified":"2022-10-01T16:38:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T15:38:36","slug":"singapore-gp-charles-leclerc-takes-pole-by-three-hundredths-with-red-bull-error-leaving-max-verstappen-ninth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/singapore-gp-charles-leclerc-takes-pole-by-three-hundredths-with-red-bull-error-leaving-max-verstappen-ninth\/","title":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE GP \u2013 Charles Leclerc takes pole by three-hundredths with Red Bull error leaving Max Verstappen ninth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles Leclerc has taken his ninth pole position of the season after beating Sergio Perez by three hundredths in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver set his fastest time on his final lap as his championship rival Max Verstappen was forced to abort his last lap to get the fuel sample.<\/p>\n

Verstappen\u2019s lap looked good enough to challenge for pole, but he will start from eighth. It looks as if the world champion may have used too much fuel on his out lap and wouldn\u2019t have completed the lap with enough fuel for scrutineering, which allowed Leclerc to take back-to-back poles in Marina Bay, as the sport returns following a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

That may have been caused by the unusual run plans where teams opted not to pit before the final runs in Q3, he would have been the last car to set a time if the team had fuelled the car enough. This left Leclerc unchallenged as the session drew to a close, what also didn\u2019t help was Verstappen had slid wide on his final timed lap through the final sector losing time.<\/p>\n

Verstappen is even more unlikely to seal a second title on Sunday, he needs to win the race and hope other results go his way. The Dutchman needing a victory and for both Leclerc and Perez to finish well below their starting positions for that to happen. Verstappen has however taken victory from the fifteenth this season, but accepts Marina Bay is more difficult to overtake.<\/p>\n

He explained \u201cNot enough fuel in the car. We got a little surprised we had that extra lap but you can track that, you see that coming. That’s why I don’t really understand how that was missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Q1, Verstappen had a moment which could have unsettled him he slid towards the wall at Esplanade (Turn Seventeen), but still his times in the first two sectors where enough to move him ahead of Lewis Hamilton at that point. The Dutchman then managed to hang on to go fastest.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Leclerc\u2019s ninth pole of the season puts him one away from clinching the pole trophy for 2022, however that\u2019s little consolation after his title hopes were dashed by Ferrari’s collective errors this season. Leclerc said: “It was really, really special. Every qualifying in street tracks are super on the limit and even more like that when it is damp. But it worked well.”<\/p>\n

Hamilton put his Mercedes third fastest going three hundredths behind Perez in third, the first time this season the seven-time champion has qualified in the top three. He looked to be a genuine contender for pole through to the first runs in Q3, exchanging fastest sectors with Leclerc and Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Mercedes, however, slipped into the familiar pattern in 2022 of slipping away throughout qualifying and the seven-time champion missed out on pole by just over half a tenth.<\/p>\n

Hamilton said: “I was pushing so hard. I was so close. I was trying so hard. These guys are so quick but I thought maybe with a perfect lap I could get first. It just didn’t happen with the grip in the final lap. But we just keep our heads down and hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.”<\/p>\n

The session was wet to dry which made being on track at the right time important as the track improved by about ten seconds. Carlos Sainz put his Ferrari fourth fastest going over a tenth behind Hamilton, in a very tricky session for the drivers in wet-dry conditions around Marina Bay.<\/p>\n

Fernando Alonso put his Alpine fifth after going seven tenths faster than the McLaren of Lando Norris, but it was a tough evening for their respective teammates, Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo who were both knocked out in Q1. Alonso and Alpine, who controversially won the first race in 2008, have always gone well here.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard was around half a second off the outright place, on a weekend when Alpine introduced a major upgrade to the floor. Since Marina Bay made it\u2019s debut Alpine\/Lotus\/Renault, or the Enstone team, has seemed t excel around this circuit, Alonso as well taking two wins from fifteen races.<\/p>\n

Pierre Gasly put his Alpha Tauri seventh ahead of a frustrated Verstappen by nearly two-tenths. Kevin Magnussen was ninth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, both drivers were the first to switch to dry tyres in the final part of Q3, but none of the drivers who made it into the final part of qualifying had gambled on the soft tyres at that stage.<\/p>\n

Mercedes George Russell was a surprise knockout in Q2, he had missed the cut by six-thousandths of a second behind Magnussen when the session finished. The Englishman was frustrated by what was reportedly an engine issue.<\/p>\n

The team had appeared to make a step forward in recent races and while overtaking is more difficult in Singapore, Mercedes have had a better race car this season. The long hot race under the lights should present opportunities for Russell to come through into the points in the race.<\/p>\n

The Englishman was two tenths faster than the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, with Mick Schumacher going thirteenth for Haas. Russell had been knocked out of Q3 following late improvements for Gasly and Magnussen on slick, Schumacher meanwhile didn\u2019t take that gamble saying on the inters.<\/p>\n

The German did however improve to get himself out of the Q1 drop zone, in the process knocking out Valtteri Bottas. The Finn, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon were all unable to improve enough to better their positions. Alex Albon beat his Williams teammate Nicolas Latifi by six tenths.<\/p>\n

Related<\/h2>\n

SINGAPORE GP \u2013 Carlos Sainz Leads A Ferrari One-Two In FP2 With Max Verstappen Third<\/a><\/p>\n