A track in constant improvement in performance led to a fight for pole position that was decided in Q3 which, unlike others, was played on a progressive drop in times. Carlos Sainz will start 4th, Fernando Alonso 5th and Max Verstappen, 8th.
charles leclerc He added his 9th pole of the season, which is not necessarily good news for him, since of the previous 8 he has only turned 3 into victory. Behind him will be Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton, with a Verstappen who had to abort his last lap at the worst moment for fear that he did not have enough gasoline. He will start 8th.
Carlos Sainz will start 4th and Fernando Alonso 5th, which gives hope for the podium for both. It was a classification in which the rain did not appear, but the falling water was decisive.
Q1: Ocon falls at the first change
Although the progression of the track was high, there was no rush to use the dry tyres. Thus, and although the times fell sharply in the last minutes, it was not until the end when it was decided who was going to go through and who was going to be eliminated.
Those who took the most risk were the pilots of Hass, who didn’t do a good lap until less than five minutes remained. Managing the moment when leaving the track was key, to guarantee a good lap and go out on the track in good condition.
This partly explains why, for example, Stephen Ocon (complained of brake problems) or Valtteri Bottas will they stay out, or what lando norris It will happen very fair… but not like this Daniel Ricciardo.
With Max Verstappen as the fastest followed by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Sainz 5th and Alonso 9th, those eliminated were Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi.
Times Table Q1 Singapore Grand Prix
Q2: The track dries up and doubts begin
The progression of track performance made fears begin to spread among the teams. The track dried up to the point that many drivers asked to fit dry tyres, but only the Aston Martins did.
Even so, the rest did not play it. While Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel they suffered, thinking more about giving the bell, the rest maintained the intermediate compound as the mandatory. Among others, a Fernando Alonso which closed Q2 with the second sector record.
On the other hand, not all teams got it right. Proof of this was the blunder of Mercedes with George Russellwhich was left out of Q3 along with Lance Stroll, Mick Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel Y Guanyu Zhou.
Times table Q2 Singapore Grand Prix
Q3: A thoroughly determined pole position
With almost everyone on dry tires from the start and a track that was drying up by the minute, there was not a Q3 with two attempts as usual, but everyone decided to do several consecutive laps. The key was to stretch as much as possible to try the lap at the last moment.
Thus, there were pole options up to the very Fernando Alonsobut in the end the big surprise was Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion, whose last pole was in Saudi Arabia 2021, was very close, less than half a tenth of the man who ultimately took it: Charles Leclerc.
The Monegasque was benefited by a Max Verstappen that he had to abort when he made his last attempt: he had no gasoline left to give the minimum to the FIA. He will start from an 8th position that he knows very little about.
Times table Q3 Singapore Grand Prix
This Sunday will be key because Verstappen has the first opportunity to become world champion for the second time. The accounts you need are relatively straightforwardalthough it will depend on what Pérez and Leclerc do, who are the ones who lead the first row.
Photos: Scuderia Ferrari