Singapore GP 2026: Verstappen takes pole ahead of both Ferraris
Photo: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull's Saturday at Marina Bay produced two very different results. Max Verstappen followed his sprint win by taking pole position for Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, his first pole at the circuit for the main race. His teammate Isack Hadjar did not set a time in qualifying. Ferrari took the next two places, and championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes could only manage fourth.
Verstappen's pole for the Singapore GP
Verstappen set the fastest time on his first run in Q3: 1:31.373. He did not improve on his final attempt, but nobody beat him. Charles Leclerc finished 0.054s behind, and Lewis Hamilton was third in 1:31.496.
It was Verstappen's second pole of the weekend, after sprint qualifying, and the 50th Grand Prix pole of his career. Singapore is one of two circuits where Verstappen, who made his Formula 1 debut in 2015, has yet to win a Grand Prix. The other is Madring, new to the 2026 calendar.
"Of course I'm very happy with pole position, because that's exactly what I wanted," Verstappen said. He attributed the team's stronger form in Singapore to the change in regulations. "I think our car works a bit differently now than under the previous regulations, when we were stronger in other phases of the corner," he explained. He added that taking pole in Singapore was "very special" for the team.
Hamilton led until the final part of qualifying
Hamilton topped the first two parts of the session. In Q1 he set a 1:32.429, three tenths clear of Leclerc and Lando Norris. Norris had collided with Oscar Piastri in the sprint a few hours earlier. Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas and Hadjar were eliminated in Q1.
In Q2 Hamilton improved to 1:31.529. Early in that segment Verstappen complained about "insanely bad" gearshifts, yet he was the only driver to get close to Hamilton, with a 1:31.639. Pierre Gasly found six tenths on his final attempt and reached Q3 at the expense of Nico Hulkenberg. Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto also missed the top ten.
In Q3 Hamilton was almost three tenths faster than Verstappen in the second sector but slower over the full lap. Neither improved on their final runs, and Leclerc moved ahead of his Ferrari teammate to take second place.
Mercedes behind Red Bull and Ferrari
Antonelli qualified fourth in 1:31.562, 0.189s behind Verstappen. In Q1 the Mercedes cars were only 12th and 13th, almost 1.2s off Hamilton, and in Q2 they were more than half a second down.
George Russell qualified sixth but will start from the back because of an outstanding penalty for power unit components. Norris split the two Mercedes drivers in fifth. Piastri was the only other driver from the leading teams to improve on his final attempt, by more than three tenths, but he gained no places and finished seventh.
Gasly was best of the rest for Alpine with a 1:32.225. Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls completed the top ten.
Hadjar's run of failures
Hadjar had retired from the sprint with a power unit failure. Red Bull's mechanics replaced engine components in time for qualifying, but the problems returned in Q1. He went off track and stopped, reporting over the radio: "The engine died." After restarting, he returned to the pits without a time. On his next attempt he reported: "Same problem, I lost the gears." He did not go back out.
Hadjar was classified 22nd but will start from 21st on the grid thanks to Russell's penalty. "No, I want to drive. To be honest, I don't care about P22," he told Sky Sports F1. What frustrated him most was having plenty of soft tires in the garage that will go unused.
Hadjar backed the idea of fitting a new power unit. "We need new parts. Everything is falling apart this weekend, we need a fresh start," he said. Team principal Laurent Mekies has not yet confirmed whether Red Bull will break parc fermé to change the engine.
Verstappen's start on Sunday
The start may be Verstappen's biggest obstacle on Sunday. In the sprint he lost the run to the first corner to Russell, and he had similar trouble at the previous round at Sepang. He described his sprint start as "terrible."
"It can't get any worse. It can only get better, right? We'll see how it goes tomorrow," Verstappen said.