Verstappen seizes Singapore pole as Antonelli's title lead faces grid threat

Max Verstappen will start Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix from pole position after topping qualifying at Marina Bay, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton locking out the second row behind him. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who arrived in Singapore with the points lead, could only manage fourth, leaving him vulnerable heading into the race.

Verstappen has won the last two races from pole, and the Red Bull driver will carry that momentum into a circuit where track position is notoriously difficult to recover. His team-mate Isack Hadjar, however, will start from the back of the grid after a miserable qualifying session that saw the Frenchman report a loss of engine power in Q1 — “The engine is off” — before returning to the pits with no time set and never re-emerging.

The first segment also ended the weekends of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, both Aston Martins eliminated after Lindblad and Bortoleto made late improvements. Stroll had earlier grazed the wall at Turn 7, while Ocon locked up at Turn 13, though both appeared to escape without significant damage. Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas also exited in Q1.

In Q2, Hamilton briefly looked like a genuine pole threat, posting a 1m31.766s on his opening run to lead by four tenths over Antonelli. Verstappen was over half a second back at that stage, complaining of “insanely bad” gear shifts. But the session ultimately served to confirm the pecking order at the front, with Hamilton and Leclerc securing the second row while George Russell could only manage sixth for Mercedes.

Antonelli’s title lead remains intact heading into the race, but starting fourth on a street circuit where overtaking is scarce adds a layer of pressure the championship leader could have done without. Verstappen, by contrast, is in familiar territory — on pole, in form, and with two consecutive victories already banked.