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Formula 1 Qualifying at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore was close and exciting.
For the second race weekend in a row, 20 Formula 1 drivers took on an intense and perilous street circuit, this time around tackling the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore.
Lando Norris finished second in Free Practice 1 before topping FP2 and Fp3, making him among the favourites for pole position.
And true to form, it was Norris who took pole on Saturday in Singapore, where he’ll start tomorrow’s race beside Max Verstappen.
Q1
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was an early pacesetter in Q1, setting a lap time of 1:30.896 as drivers came out on track for the first time to set their banker laps. Then it was Norris, going almost two-tenths faster than Leclerc, who claimed the top spot in the timing sheets.
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri and Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz slotted behind them in that order, establishing McLaren and Ferrari as the teams to beat.
With close to eight minutes to go in the session, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set his first lap time, jumping up to second in between Norris and Leclerc.
Notably, the Mercedes cars both struggled on their first fast laps, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell heading back into the pits after only managing 11th and 14th respectively.
Before the final laps in the first part of Qualifying, both Kick Sauber drivers were amongst those in the elimination zone. They were joined by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams Racing’s Franco Colapinto, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Sergio Perez, down in 14th, was amongst those in danger of being dropped down into that zone.
As track evolution proved key for improvement, it was Alex Albon who took the top spot briefly before being usurped by Norris once again.
On his final lap, Perez improved to go fourth fastest. Then Hamilton stole fourth place, effectively getting himself out of any danger in this session.
Daniel Ricciardo only managed 12th on his final lap, before getting pushed back down into the elimination zone, getting knocked out in Q1 on a weekend where rumours of his replacement have been running rampant.
Sainz was knocked down to 15th place, putting him at risk before he improved to sixth right at the end of Q1, keeping him safe for now.
Eliminated in Q1:
16. Daniel Ricciardo
17. Lance Stroll
18. Pierre Gasly
19. Valtteri Bottas
20. Zhou Guanyu
Q2
The Red Bulls were first on track for Q2, Verstappen setting a faster lap than Perez his first time around. But his time was deleted shortly after due to a track limits violation.
As more drivers came out and set their first flying laps, it was Norris once again who took and held the top spot with a 1:30.007. Leclerc and Piastri were behind him, with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg taking fourth place.
Then Hamilton became the first driver to get into the 1:29s range, setting a lap time of 1:29.929 to take the top spot from Norris. Russell then went into P3, slotting both Mercedes into the top three over halfway into the session.
With just four minutes to go and with no time on the board, Verstappen was one of the only drivers out on track. He put himself ahead of Hamilton and Norris to take P1 with a lap time of 1:29.680.
The next driver to the top was Piastri, who took P1 and stayed their for the rest of Q2. Fernando Alonso improved out of the elimination zone, but only to ninth which left him at risk. But he knocked Perez down into the drop zone, and the Red Bull driver was unable to improve on his final lap.
Perez ended the session behind both of the Williams drivers, who were the top two drivers to not make it through to Q3.
Eliminated in Q2:
11. Alex Albon
12. Franco Colapinto
13. Sergio Perez
14. Kevin Magnussen
15. Esteban Ocon
Q3
The final part of Qualifying had barely begun before it was red flagged, as Sainz was at the end of his first flying lap when he went into the barriers.
After the red flag was ended and Sainz’s car was cleared away, there were only seven minutes left on the clock. Instead of attempting multiple laps, everyone opted to wait in the pits and just do one flying lap to decide who would get pole position.
The McLarens were the first out to make their final attempt. Piastri, on provisional pole, was the first driver across the line.
Piastri didn’t see much of an improvement, which allowed Norris to take provisional pole from him with a lap time of 1:29.525.
Leclerc only managed fourth place, before losing his lap time and being dropped down to ninth ahead of Sainz.
More to follow…
Feature Image Credit: Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images