Written by Maria Fashchevskaya
Lando Norris flew to pole position under the night lights of Singapore, after a red-flagged qualifying in the last part of the session. He lined up ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, as the Ferraris would start at the back of the top ten.
Lando Norris flew to pole, knocking in a weekend-record time – a 1:29.525s – around the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. Max Verstappen, who struggled with his car throughout the weekend, including multiple deleted times in qualifying, lined up behind him. In P3 was Lewis Hamilton, soaring the grid last minute in Q3, with only three tenths to pole-sitter Norris.
George Russell sit in P4, pushing back McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who looked fast throughout qualifying, to P5. Nico Hulkenberg managed to come through to Q3 and would start from P6 in the race, infront of Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda.
In the last row in the top ten were sitting the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. After going into the barriers early on in Q3, Sainz had not set a time and would start in P10. Meanwhile, teammate Leclerc exceeded track limits, as his time was deleted at the end of Q3.
Grid position on a street track like this is crucial, as many teams have sacrificed some tyre allocations to save soft tyres (C5) for qualifying. Free Practices were dominated by Lando Norris (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), although the latter has had some issues in FP3, calling the car "slow". It has been likely that either Ferrari or McLaren grab pole in Singapore.
Moreover, the Marina Bay Street Circuit has been dustier than normal this weekend, resulting in a few sliding moments in the corners. And it rained heavily in Singapore last night, cleaning the track from the tyre rubber of Friday's free practice sessions.
And a fun moment has been seen in FP3, as a lizard jumped onto the track early in the session: Could we see a „godzilla“-cameo in qualifying, too?
Read here, how the qualifying unfolded:
Q1
As the green lights for the first part of qualifying went on, cars of Alpine, Ferrari, and Kick Sauber teams were already lining up in the pit lane. Charles Leclerc was one of the first drivers to clock in a time around the track, with a 1:30.896s on the clock. All the drivers went out on soft Pirelli rubber.
With 13 minutes to go, around 15 drivers had not set a time around the street circuit yet. The session itself is tricky to manage. It is better to go out late into the session, as track evolution rises. However, the drivers need a banker lap, given a high possibility of yellow or red flags on a street track as narrow.
That seemed to be the strategy of Ferrari in Q1, as they went out early into the session – as well as McLaren, coming out of the pits right then. Lando Norris then led the time board, with a time of 1:30.724s. Sergio Perez set a time alongside Norris, but was much slower than the Brit, leaving a margin of more than eight tenths.
Times were set by both Alpine and Kick Sauber drivers, but much slower. Carlos Sainz was then noted for not following the race director's instructions, as he lost his car and cut the corner at turn one.
With ten minutes to go, Franco Colapinto went wide in his Williams at turn 18, leaving no space between the car and the barriers, touching it and after he cut the previous corner, too. Max Verstappen finished his flying lap in Q1 to go to P2, only 0.130s behind Norris. Could he challenge for the pole there?
With six minutes to go, in the elimination zone were Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Guanyu Zhou, Franco Colapinto and Lance Stroll, as most drivers dove into the pits for a fresher set of tyres. The only cars again on track – for a second stint in Q1 – were the McLaren drivers and Alex Albon, and on timed laps.
As the Thai driver finished his flying lap on a clear track, he soared past everyone and went up to first with a 1:30.679s on the clock. But the joy was not long, as Lando Norris drove around the corner, through the line with a 1:30.002s on the clock.
Replays showed that Albon lost some time, after he almost lost his car into turn 13. But he was safe through to Q2. In the meantime, Oscar Piastri sped in between the two drivers, into second place for Q1.
As the last minutes of Q1 came around, all the drivers piled out of the pits to make it into Q2. Daniel Ricciardo was sitting in P15 and might be at risk of elimination. As he finished his flying lap, the Australian went up to 12th place, however, would that be enough to come through to Q2?
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was at risk, too, but sped to P8, just as the chequered flag was waved. He was safely through into Q2. Then Esteban Ocon – in the elimination zone beforehand – clocked in a new time, pushing Ricciardo out of qualifying. Just then, Franco Colapinto squeezed through, too.
George Russell, who was in P10 and through to Q2, complained about having "no grip" on team radio, as he finished his flying lap. Lance Stroll tried to improve his time, but was left to P17. The same happened to both Kick Sauber drivers and Pierre Gasly in the Alpine, who did not manage to improve their time.
Knocked out: Ricciardo, Stroll, Gasly, Bottas, Zhou.
Q2
The second part of qualifying started, as the Red Bull drivers were the first cars out on track. Sergio Perez was on team radio, not understanding why they were being sent out so early into Q2. However, was reassured that an empty track means good for the car.
As Perez started his flying lap, his teammate Max Verstappen followed hot on his heals, stealing away his purple sectors. The Mexican finished his first flying lap in Q2 with a 1:30.653s. Meanwhile, the Dutchman usurped him.
The joy of Red Bull faded fast, as replays showed, how Verstappen went wide in the last corner. Thus, his time was deleted for track limits in turn 19.
Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg usurped all driver in his Haas with a surprising 1:30.374s on the clock. McLaren driver Lando Norris followed with a 1:30.007s, almost matching his best time in qualifying so far. The Ferraris clocked in times too, as Charles Leclerc went second, and Carlos Sainz – fourth for the time being.
With eight minutes to go, only the Mercedes’ had not set a time yet, and Verstappen, too, after his first time had been deleted for track limits. Both – Hamilton and Russell – were on timed laps, as most of the grid dove into the pits for new soft tyres.
Then Lewis Hamilton clocked in the best time of 1:29.929, as George Russell lost only about two tenths to his teammate, coming up to P3. "Man, I'm still really struggling out here. Don't know where all this grip has gone since practice", an exasperated Russell said over team radio.
Now it was up to Verstappen to move up the ladder, as he went out on track in the last with five minutes in Q2. This was his only chance of improvement in qualifying – on a clear track. The Dutchman flew through the Marina Bay Street Circuit – and finished his only timed lap in Q2 with a 1:29.680s, leading the board.
With three minutes to go, everyone was out now. In the elimination zone at that moment were Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Franco Colapito, and Esteban Ocon, respectively. Sergio Perez was at risk of being kicked out, too.
As Ocon finished his flying lap, he could not improve, with a tenth of second left to enter Q3. The same happened to Kevin Magnussen, who finished his flying lap just with the chequered flag. Alex Albon went through and kicked out Yuki Tsunoda in the meantime.
Although that did not hold long: As Tsunoda finished his timed lap, he usurped the Williams, after two flying laps in a row. Perez was knocked out, too.
Knocked out: Albon, Colapinto, Perez, Magnussen, Ocon.
Q3
As the last part of qualifying unfolded, cars caused traffic in the pit lane when they lined up for their first try in Q3. With ten minutes left in the session, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen were the first to start a flying lap.
As the Australian knocked in the first purple sector, the Dutchman followed suit, usurping the Australian for now. Piastri finished his flying lap with a 1:30.037s, clocking in the first pace for the time being.
Just as the Australian finished his timed lap, Carlos Sainz was seen, sliding into the barriers in the background and causing the red flags to be waved. Replays showed that the Spaniard had just started his lap, but the car snapped, going into the corner at the start of the straight, in turn 19.
While Verstappen finished his lap, seemingly on pole, his time was deleted for track limits. Nico Hulkenberg managed to get in a time, too, sitting in second place temporarily. All other drivers aborted their laps.
Qualifying resumed at 22:07 local (track) time, after the marshals pulled out the Ferrari of the Spaniard and cleared the debris. Also Carlos Sainz was noted by the stewards for crossing the track by foot, coming into the pits.
As the session resumed, the drivers had little to no time to clock in a time on the street circuit in Singapore. The McLaren drivers were the first drivers to go out on track. With two minutes to go, all drivers need to manage to clock in a time. Piastri finished with 1:29.953s, as Norris finished with the checkered flag on a 1:29.525s, a weekend record.
Charles Leclerc finished his flying lap and went up the board, but not quite high. But then there came Lewis Hamilton – with a suberb lap, landing him in P2. Max Verstappen followed after, with a gap of 0.203s to pole-sitter Norris. Thus, the Duthman would start from P2 in the race, and Hamilton in P3.
George Russell finished his lap to sit in P4, pushing back McLaren's Oscar Piastri further back the grid, to P5. Nico Hulkenberg, with a great qualifying, secured P6 for the race, infront of Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda.
In the last row of the top ten were the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had no time to set a decent lap in Q3, leaving him in P10 for the race. Meanwhile, teammate Leclerc exceeded track limits at turn two, as his time was deleted at the end of Q3.
Who will win the 2024 nightrace in Singapore? Let’s watch and see tomorrow at 1 p.m. BST (8 p.m. track time).
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