Russell charges to Singapore pole ahead of vengeful Verstappen

George Russell soared to pole in Singapore, claiming the top grid slot alongside a vengeful Max Verstappen, while Oscar Piastri quietly settled into P3 for the high-stakes night race with duel-championship implications.

Qualifying 1:

With the iconic Singapore cityscape as the perfect backdrop for a tense nighttime qualifying shootout, all eyes were locked on the illuminated Marina Bay Street Circuit as the light went green to commence Q1.

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As the opening session drew near, however, it became a race against the clock for Liam Lawson’s RB crew, still scrambling to repair his battered VCARB 02 after a second heavy run-in with the walls in final practice put his Qualifying presence in jeopardy.

Missing no more than a minute of Q1, Racing Bull’s mission was successful when the Kiwi managed to join the queue in the pitlane, before setting a mid-range time.

When Lawson put his foot to the floor once again, he was tasked with promoting his VCARB 02 from the elimination zone while Isack Hadjar claimed the top spot.

Shaving over seven-tenths off his previous time, Lawson boosted himself into the top ten with a time of 1:30.681s, with that lap also quick enough to see him through to the second stage of Qualifying.

Confident in the car underneath him, Oscar Piastri was in no rush to exit the pitlane at the start of Q1, following Lando Norris out on track as the minutes ticked by.

Piastri aborted his first qualifying attempt when yellow flags waved at Turn 1 for a car taking to the run-off to avoid hindering him, prompting the Australian’s frustrated response: “You can’t give a yellow flag for someone getting out of the way.”

Quickly resetting, the Australian launched once again to record an opening time of 1:30.440s, leaving him in P6 as his rivals continued to improve. 

Carving one-tenth off his time during his final flying lap, Piastri breathed a sigh of relief after a complicated opening stage ended with a smooth route through to Q2.

The opening stage for the remainder of the drivers was a busy one, with desperation evident from the outset of Q1 as drivers exceeded the limits and relied on the run-off areas around the 4.9km circuit.

Max Verstappen soared to the top of the tables as the session began taking shape, while his Red Bull teammate fell deeper and deeper into the elimination zone.

His rumoured 2026 teammate went one-tenth quicker, however, with Hadjar demoting Verstappen to slot comfortably into second place, only falling short of the new benchmark pace-holder in Norris.

In the face of fresh tyres wielded by an eager Mercedes rookie, Norris’ lead time of 1:29.932s held strong until the final round of flying laps commenced.

Sitting at risk of a lot more than just a positional demoting, the five drivers at risk as the last-ditch efforts kicked off were Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, and Yuki Tsunoda, with the at-risk Alpine threatening the final minutes.

Forced to park by the escape road at Turn 11, Car No.10 brought out yellow flags as he informed his team he’d “lost everything” and “the steering his heavy”, however, many drivers were still able to record an improvement.

With a jump up the order essential for the Red Bull camp’s satisfaction, Tsunoda managed to boost his RB21 into P10 to demote the only active Alpine of Franco Colapinto, with Hulkenberg also breaking free of the bottom five when he switched places with Lance Stroll.

As a result, Bortoleto, Stroll, Colapinto, Ocon, and Gasly will fulfil the bottom five grid slots for Sunday’s race, however, their positions aren’t certain as Cars No. 22, No. 27, No. 5, and No. 63 remain under investigation for yellow flag infringements.

At the head of the field, the last to be noted for the Q1 infringement finished the opening stage within the top three, surrounded by his compatriots as Lewis Hamilton set the benchmark pace of 1:29.765s.

Qualifying 2:

After a delayed start to the second stage of Qualifying, allowing marshals to clear Gasly’s Alpine from the active circuit, the impatient queue of cars was finally released onto the Singapore streets.

Having clocked the equal-most laps during the opening session, Racing Bulls took the same approach as they maximised the start of Q2.

It wasn’t enough to give Lawson a safe start, however, with Lawson sitting as the first driver in the elimination zone, just 0.042s short of the top ten.

Having fallen into the unfortunate confines of the elimination zone, and with less than a minute on the clock, the Kiwi warmed up to one last-ditch effort at securing a top-ten grid slot, however, it wasn’t to be.

As a result, Lawson will start the 62-lap race from P14 on the grid, with Yuki Tsunoda the driver in his mirrors. 

Still taking a measured approach at the start of the 15-minute session, Piastri was the final driver to exit the pitlane in Q2.

When he finally did so, he put his used soft tyres to work, securing a purple middle sector on his way to recording a time of 1:29.823s, just seven hundredths short of the benchmark pace.

Dropping by the McLaren garage to switch to a set of fresh soft compound tyres, Piastri rejoined the session with four minutes on the clock.

Not searching for anything spectacular, the Australian only made up ten milliseconds on his final run, however, it was an irrelevant effort as Piastri breezed through to the top ten shootout.

As was the case during the first session, Verstappen’s initial attempt ruled the timesheets, with both McLaren drivers trying, but failing to top the Red Bull round the 19 corners.

In the elimination zone, two big names in Leclerc and Antonelli found themselves at risk as the field returned to the pitlane, with the Ferrari driver making scrappy contact with the wall, while the Italian rookie had his flying time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 2.

Joining the stressed duo in the bottom five were Lawson, Tsunoda, and Alex Albon, with all five drivers launching for one final run as the session neared its end.

It was a successful feat for Antonelli, who shot to the very top of the timesheets before George Russell stole that accolade.

As Verstappen split the Mercedes duo, cementing the Q2 top-three, Leclerc redeemed himself.

Despite a shaky first sector, personal improvements throughout the remainder of the 4.9km lap had the Ferrari driver settling into a comfortable P6, just ahead of his teammate, who was the only driver to remain in the garage.

Unable to stick with his teammate, Tsunoda bowed out of qualifying in a lacklustre P15, being out-qualified by the driver he replaced at Red Bull as he lapped almost eight-tenths slower than Verstappen.

Joining the Japanese and Kiwi drivers in a Q2 exit were the Williams duo, with just 0.033s separating Albon and Sainz, while Hulkenberg was the final car eliminated. 

The Williams duo’s night went from bad to worse after the session, however, with both cars’ rear wings/Drag Reduction Systems failing the FIA delegate’s flexi-wing tests, earning them a meeting with the stewards – and a potential double disqualification from Qualifying.

The notable entries through to the top ten included three rookies, with Ollie Bearman and Isack Hadjar joining the Mercedes rookie to battle against some of the most respected names in the sport during Q3.

Qualifying 3:

The anticipation for pole was at its peak as the light went green in the pitlane, with the remaining ten drivers leaving nothing behind as they pushed for peak grid position. 

The barriers could barely contain Piastri’s opening push as he scraped his way through the final sector to record an initial time three-tenths off the benchmark pace, leaving the Australian in P3 as he returned to the pitlane.

With a time of 1:29.524s to his name, a short-lived lull in the pitlane preceded Piastri’s closing run in the fight for pole, however, that lap remained the Australian’s quickest in Q3 as improvements were few and far between.

As a result, Piastri secured a top-three start for the Singapore Grand Prix, praising his “clean” session for the result, which places him two slots higher than his champion rival, Norris, as McLaren strives to confirm the constructors’ title tomorrow.

To start the broader session, Russell pushed his Mercedes car to the extreme as he also slammed  the right rear tyre into the concrete wall at Turn 17 before crossing the line with three purple sectors to his name. 

After the first round of attempts, the Brit’s blistering time of 1:29.165s rewarded him with provisional pole, with Verstappen the closest threat almost two-tenths behind the Mercedes driver.

The drivers returned to the pitlane for a short reprieve, sighting Hadjar as the leading driver in the battle between the midfield cars, with four-tenths the difference between himself and the Haas rookie, while Fernando Alonso occupied the final top ten grid slot during the lull.

Come the chequered flag, the Racing Bulls driver held his position in P8, however, Hadjar was visibly frustrated with his final run, which left him just six hundredths behind the Ferrari duo.

Having run out of fresh tyres, Hamilton rolled out of the pitlane for the final round of attempts on a used set of soft compound tyres, with the seven-time world champion and his teammate both running off the pace in a provisional P6 and P7.

Across the entire board, however, the pace failed to drastically improve as the closing laps were recorded, with Norris the first to realise a P5 start was all he could achieve in Singapore.

Leclerc set personal best sector times up until a messy final sector left him in P7, with Hamilton out-qualifying the #16 to secure a Row 3 start alongside Norris.

At the head of the pack, Russell became the fourth different pole-sitter in four years at the Singapore Grand Prix, with the Brit improving on his time by seven milliseconds to secure the coveted front grid box by almost two-tenths.

Falling short and faulting the #4 McLaren driver for disrupting his final run through Sector 3, Verstappen was forced to settle for a second-place start for tomorrow night’s race, with the Dutchman vowing to remember Norris’ imposition come lights out.

Piastri rounded out the top three, however, only just, with Antonelli unable to match his Q2 peak as he sat 0.013s behind the McLaren driver in P4. 

But despite the grid now being locked in, the podium places are still to play for during the physically gruelling 62-lap race, with lights out taking place at 23:00 AEST on Sunday.

Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Singapore Qualifying Results:

2025 Singapore Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Friday, October 3rd:

FP1: 19:30 – 20:30

FP2: 23:00 – 00:00

Saturday, October 4th:

FP3: 19:30 – 20:30

Qualifying: 23:00 – 00:00

Sunday, October 5th:

Race: 23:00

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