Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint, posting a lap of 1:31.156 in the final segment of Sprint Qualifying at the Marina Bay Street Circuit to beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.120 seconds, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third, 0.243 seconds adrift.
Verstappen’s result was placed under a stewards’ investigation following an alleged yellow flag infringement during SQ1, when Sergio Pérez hit the barriers in his Cadillac and left debris on the circuit, triggering a red flag with six minutes of the opening segment remaining.
Oscar Piastri qualified fourth for McLaren, just 0.055 seconds behind Leclerc, with Lando Norris fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli qualified seventh in the second Mercedes. Liam Lawson was eighth, while Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 after having their SQ3 lap times deleted.
Earlier in the day, Russell had set the pace in the sole one-hour free practice session, posting a best lap of 1:32.274 on Soft tyres to beat Leclerc by 0.198 seconds. Norris was third, 0.273 seconds off the pace, with Hamilton fourth and Piastri fifth. Verstappen finished sixth and was the quickest driver running the Medium compound, recording a 1:33.006.
Track temperatures reached 53°C during practice — considerably warmer than conditions expected for the night-time Sprint and Grand Prix. Most drivers began on Hard tyres before switching to Softs for performance laps in the closing stages.
The practice session was briefly interrupted by a Virtual Safety Car period when Nico Hülkenberg stopped near the pit exit with a reported gearbox problem. The Audi driver completed just 16 laps, the fewest of any driver, and finished 18th. Carlos Sainz completed the most laps of any driver, recording 31 circuits in the Williams.
In Sprint Qualifying, Russell faced a difficult passage through SQ2 after a lock-up at Turn 13 compromised a lap attempt, temporarily dropping him outside the top 10. He recovered on his final run to advance in fourth. Hülkenberg was eliminated in 12th, ahead of Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.
In the final eight-minute segment contested on Soft tyres, Norris set the early benchmark with a 1:31.587 before Leclerc briefly led with a 1:31.568. Verstappen ultimately prevailed with his 1:31.156 to claim top spot ahead of Saturday’s Sprint race.