Verstappen wins Singapore sprint, takes 50th pole as Antonelli extends championship lead
Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix sprint and then secured pole position at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Saturday, recording the 50th pole of his career. He set the quickest qualifying lap at 1 minute 31.373 seconds, edging Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by 0.054 seconds; Lewis Hamilton qualified third and championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fourth.
Verstappen's performance was described in the report as a return to form at a circuit where he has often struggled, and it came despite gearbox problems during qualifying. He heads into the Grand Prix weekend having claimed his second consecutive pole of the season and shortly before his 250th Grand Prix. "The margins are very close between us throughout all of qualifying, so of course, very happy to be on pole because this is the one that I wanted," Verstappen said ahead of his 250th Grand Prix. "The car has been pretty strong all weekend. Of course, I always think that you can be better, but it was enough for pole, so very happy with that."
The sprint was held in wet conditions and proved chaotic from the start: Mercedes' George Russell initially took the lead but ran over a painted line, spun across the track and crashed into the barriers, leaving him out of the sprint. Verstappen, who lost the sprint lead at the start — a problem the report says he repeated after experiencing similar issues in Malaysia last week — moved clear to take the victory, with Hamilton and Leclerc completing the podium.
Verstappen highlighted continued start issues and gearbox complaints after the sprint and qualifying. "We don't accelerate off the line," Verstappen said. "Up until now we always have terrible starts so we need to understand what's going on there." He also complained about poor gear changes during qualifying, describing the downshifts as "insanely, insanely bad".
Kimi Antonelli benefited from action on the final lap of the sprint, gaining two places and extending his championship lead over teammate Russell from 84 points to 89 after qualifying fourth. The final-lap incident involved McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with Norris attempting an inside move that the report says misjudged and which sent Piastri spinning into the barriers; stewards took no further action and both McLarens will start from the third row.
Other qualifying and grid details reported included Isack Hadjar returning to the garage with a gearbox problem before setting a lap time and thereby losing his streak of reaching Q3 this season. Pierre Gasly qualified seventh, followed by Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg to complete the top 10.
With Verstappen on pole and Russell set to start Sunday's Grand Prix from the back due to an engine-related grid penalty, the report states Antonelli has a valuable opportunity to strengthen his championship position at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.