Sainz on pole for Singapore GP as both Red Bull’s exit after Q2

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start the Singapore Grand Prix, at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, on pole position as both Red Bull’s were knocked out of Q2. 

Q1

Ahead of the opening third of qualifying there was a queue at the end of the pit lane as the field sat eagerly for the pit lane traffic light to change to green. 

When it finally went green, the majority of the field peeled out with both the Mercedes and Alpine drivers in their garages.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tuonda (Alpha Tauri) and Alexander Albon (Williams) also stayed in their garages. It wasn’t long before they slowly began to filter out onto the circuit.

Of the opening banker laps, McLaren’s Lando Norris jumped to the top of the timing board with a 1:32.523, but he was soon demoted by the likes of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell who went seven hundredths faster than the McLaren. 

Although Red Bull’s Max Verstappen did not set a purple sector at all in his fastest lap the Dutchman went to the top of the timing boards before he was demoted by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

At the same time, Williams’ Logan Sargeant was set to be investigated by race control for impeding Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.  

In the dying laps, track evolution was key to survival. At the end of their final flying laps, Tsunoda went to the top of the timing board with the likes of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. 

However, the first third was brought to an abrupt end as Stroll lost control of his AMR23 on the final corner. The Canadian smashed the nose into the barrier along the pit straight and bounced back onto the live circuit. Thankfully, Stroll was okay and managed to clamber out of his wrecked car without any injury. 

In turn this meant the drivers who found themselves in the elimination zone were not able to improve their lap time as the red flag was thrown. 

Eliminated:

20. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

19. Zhou Gunayu, Alfa Romeo

18. Logan Sargeant, William

17. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

16. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

Q2

Ahead of Q2, as the track stewards cleared away Stroll’s wrecked car and the mess it left behind, Verstappen was put under investigation by race control for impeding. Replays showed Verstappen stopped at the pit exit ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Sir Lewis Hamilton respectively. 

After a lengthy break, qualifying was resumed as the Red Bull duo of Sergio Perez and Verstappem headed out onto the circuit ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. 

With the first banker laps on the board, Russell went to the top of the timing board ahead of Alonso and Sainz. Only a tenth of a second separated the top three drivers. Whereas both Verstappen and Perez found themselves on the cusp of elimination, the defending champion was 10th while the Mexican driver is sat in the knock-out zone in 11th.  

Verstappen was yet again put under investigation by race control for another impeding incident but with Tsunoda this time around. The Japanese driver believed he was impeded in the early corners of his hot lap which he was forced to abort and return to the pit lane, with a visit to the weighbridge to add insult to injury.

On their final flying laps, the Red Bull had a horrific session. Perez had a spin on his final flying lap, at turn three, and ruined his lap from the get-go. On the other hand, Verstappen had a moment at the same section of track but bled time as he tried to continue on. 

Despite Verstappen’s best efforts, he could not find a way to remain inside qualifying as he was knocked out by Alpha Tauri’s Liam Lawson who went to P10.

Eliminated:

15. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

14. Alexander Albon, Williams

13. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

12. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

11. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

Q3

When the final third of qualifying got underway, the field quickly bolted out of their respective garages and onto the circuit without hesitation. Within seconds the entire field of 10 drivers were out on the Singapore track. 

After the banker laps were secured, Sainz took provisional pole ahead of Leclerc who was two-tenths behind. Norris rounded out the top three, three-tenths slower than Sainz. Russell and Hamilton rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively. 

Alonso led the bottom five in sixth, nine-tenths off his fellow Spaniard’s time as Magnussen and Hulkenberg occupied seventh and eighth. Ocon and Lawson completed the field in ninth and 10th respectively.

Four minutes remained on the clock and all but Russell and Hamilton ventured out onto the circuit. After a couple of minutes, it wasn’t long before the two Mercedes peeled onto the maritime Southeast Asia circuit. 

Despite Leclerc and Norris’ best efforts, the two drivers could not put in a lap time good enough to topple Sainz from the top spot. However, Russell put in a strong lap to threaten the Spaniard’s position but it was not to be as the Briton finished P2, seven-hundredths off the pace. 

Top 10:

10. Liam Lawson, Alpha Tauri

9. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

8. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

7. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

6. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

4. Lando Norris, McLaren

3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2. George Russell, Mercedes

1. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

That’s all for the article: Sainz on pole for Singapore GP as both Red Bull’s exit after Q2!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Sainz completes practice clean sweep for Ferrari in Singapore GP FP3
• Ferrari clean sweep Friday with Sainz quickest in FP2
• Leclerc leads in Singapore as Lizards litter FP1
• FIA issue ‘certificates of compliance’ to all 10 teams
• Carlos Sainz victim of robbery outside hotel after Italian GP podium
• Hamilton apologises to Piastri for Italian GP turn four incident

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