Verstappen on pole in Singapore as McLaren reels from team collision

Max Verstappen took pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday after winning the sprint race in wet conditions earlier that day in Singapore, and Sunday's race will be Max Verstappen's 250th in Formula 1.

Red Bull's revival has not closed the gap to the championship leader: Verstappen is too far behind, and Kimi Antonelli too far ahead, to consider the title battle unsettled, yet Verstappen's form has produced clear momentum as the season moves into its final stages. Two drivers who felt they had missed out on pole were Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, placing them immediately behind Verstappen on the grid. The pole gives Verstappen a strong chance to follow up his sprint success with a grand prix victory on Sunday.

Verstappen has concerns about Red Bull's inconsistent starts, having lost the lead off the line in Malaysia last weekend and in the sprint in Singapore; with overtaking at a premium around this circuit, a poor getaway could be costly. The track characteristics mean he would not find it as easy to regain the lead as he did on his way to his first victory of the season. He remains cautious about the race: "It was a good qualifying," Verstappen said. "It was always very close and we got ahead when it mattered and we are very happy with that. "All weekend the car has been in a good window and that makes it a lot easier to find your rhythm. Incredibly happy to start first. Still a long race ahead, a lot of things can go wrong but we have done everything up until now well so hopefully we can continue that tomorrow. "It's been a really positive last few races and we want to keep that momentum going."

Verstappen's maiden win of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last weekend came after a run of three podium finishes in Italy, Spain and Azerbaijan, the last of which might very well have been a first victory had he not had problems in qualifying that left him eighth on the grid when he could have been on the front row. Red Bull's improvement, and the stability Verstappen feels in the car, have contributed to his recent upturn in form.

He proved in last season's comeback that when the car is predictable he can be formidable; that campaign saw him eat into a 100-point deficit to the championship lead and ultimately miss out on taking a fifth title by just two points. This year, Verstappen's deficit to Antonelli is even bigger. He is 129 points behind the Mercedes driver with only 175 still remaining, assuming the two end-of-season races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi do actually take place in the context of the war in the Middle East. "It would take some kind of miracle - involving not only a non-stop stream of wins for Verstappen and a highly unlikely run of poor form and bad luck for Antonelli - for him to turn that around. So the prospect can be realistically dismissed. But he certainly looks as if he will be a contender at the front for the remainder of the season."

McLaren have struggled to maintain the momentum from their summer form and entered Singapore third in the constructors' championship, only 11 points ahead of Red Bull. The team suffered a damaging incident in the sprint when Lando Norris dived inside team-mate Oscar Piastri at Turn Five on the final lap; the two cars made contact, Piastri hit the barriers and retired from the race while Norris dropped to eighth, turning nine points into one. The stewards took no action, finding that "both drivers had contributed to the incident".

At the stewards' hearing, Piastri said he did not expect Norris to try the move and attempted to leave space when he saw him, while Norris argued his car "was in a position that, according to the rules, entitled him to make an overtaking attempt, so expected to be left space and had braked and gone over the kerb when he realised he was not going to get as much as he expected." Norris added: "There are two sides, one is what the stewards say and that's a fair reasoning, no-one's to blame. But I did apologise because it was still me attacking, as I had the right to do. If I just sat there and was boring like I should be, nothing would have happened. So really it's still my fault but I deserved to go for the space and I still believe I had the right for it." He also said: "As you probably expect, no-one's very happy. I'm not happy, Oscar isn't happy. None of us wanted it to go that way. There was things both of us could have done better and, yeah, we spoke about it and we moved on."

Team principal Andrea Stella described the day in stronger terms: "It was a very long, tiring and challenging day," he said. "Very simply, it is unacceptable that two McLarens ever come together on track. This is a fundamental principle of how we go racing, and something both drivers are very well aware of. "As always, we discuss these incidents as a team in a constructive and productive way as there is always something to learn and take forward to emerge stronger. These are not conversations we need to have in public, but we have reminded our drivers that the interests of the team must always come first, and that did not happen today." He added that he was "disappointed" and warned the damage for the team is material, noting the ambition "to challenge Ferrari" and "to finish ahead of Red Bull" was harmed by the incident.

Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix will start at 13:00 BST, with live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app.