Carlos Sainz wheeled his Ferrari to pole position for Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The qualifying session turned dramatic as both Red Bull Racing entries of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez failed to make Q3.
Verstappen, who’s won Formula 1’s last 10 races, qualified 11th while teammate Perez starts 13th.
“It hasn’t been a great weekend for us so far, qualifying was hectic,” Verstappen said. “I couldn’t break late and hard because I would bottom out, I’ve also been struggling with the low speed corners, we just had no rear support. It is of course very hard to pass in Singapore on the street circuit so I’m not expecting a lot tomorrow.
“We’ve had so many successful weekends this year, we can be proud of what we have achieved so far. It’s more important that we understand where we are going wrong this weekend.”
Behind Sainz up front, Mercedes’ George Russel slotted in second followed by Sainz’ teammate Charles Leclerc in third. Russell narrowly missed out on pole by just 0.072 seconds.
I’ve been really happy with this weekend as a whole,” Russell said. “I’ve felt confident in the car and the team did a great job with the tyre strategy. We are on an offset strategy compared to everybody else, so we have an extra set of Medium tires tomorrow which nobody around us has. So, to get to Q3, and then the front row, with just four sets of tires and a strategic advantage, that’s an exciting place to be. It was a challenging session in the car – sitting in the garage, it’s like being in a sauna, and you just need to keep your composure and stay cool.
“The same will be true tomorrow: traditionally this has been a one-stop race, but the new circuit layout has possibly changed that. I think it’s going to be close between a one- and a two-stop, and with that extra Medium tyre available, we can put pressure on Ferrari and try and force an error to get the upper hand. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Lando Norris was the highest qualified McLaren in fourth, with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top five in fifth.
Haas F-1 had a stout showing as both entries made the final session in Q3.
Kevin Magnussen will start sixth while teammate Nico Hulkenberg starts ninth.