Verstappen Claims Pole for 2026 Singapore GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped qualifying to claim pole position for the 2026 Singapore Grand Prix.

Having won the sprint earlier in the day, Verstappen left it until Q3 to show his pace to deny Lewis Hamilton who dominated Q1 and Q2, but the Brit ultimately qualified third behind Verstappen and Charles Leclerc as the Dutchman claimed his 50th Grand Prix pole in F1.

 

Q1

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto was the first driver on track but Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso set 1m 35.389 as the initial benchmark, but Hamilton, Lando Norris and Verstappen soon traded the fastest lap time as the track quickly began to evolve and lap times fell.

Once everyone set a lap time, Oliver Bearman, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly, Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar found themselves sat in the elimination zone, with Hadjar having to abort his two runs due to respective power and gearbox issues.

Hadjar subsequently was unable to get back out which curtailed his 100% record of Q3 appearances this season in race weekends in which he participated in.

At the checkered flag, Alonso qualified 17th ahead of Alex Albon by 0.066 seconds whilst Lance Stroll qualified 19th in front of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, with Hadjar lining up at the back of the grid alongside Alonso who announced post session that he will change his power unit.

Hamilton meanwhile topped Q1 with 1m 32.429 from his Ferrari teammate – Leclerc and Norris.

 

Q2

Russell was first on track and laid 1m 32.323 as the benchmark time but he was soon displaced by Antonelli who went 0,165 seconds quicker, before Hamilton laid 1m 31.766 as the benchmark time.

Once everyone set a lap time, the elimination zone comprised of; Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto and Bortoleto.

At the checkered flag,  Gasly survived elimination at the expense of Nico Hulkenberg whilst Bearman outqualified Ocon in 12th and 13th respectively in front of Sainz, Bortoleto and Colapinto.

Hamilton meanwhile topped Q2 with 1m 31.529 ahead of Verstappen by 0.110s.

 

Q3

Russell again was the first driver to venture out of the pits but it was Verstappen who laid 1m 31.373 as the initial benchmark time to go onto provisional pole from Hamilton by 0.173s.

Antonelli sat third in front of Leclerc, Norris, Russell, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, Gasly and Arvid Lindblad once the opening runs were completed.

Antonelli and Russell though opted for two warm-up laps and replicated that approach for their final runs but were unable to make much impact on the fight for pole position.

Nobody ultimately denied Verstappen his second Grand Prix pole position of the season – and first on the streets of Singapore – as Leclerc fell 0.054s shy in second ahead of Hamilton, Antonelli and Norris.

Russell qualified sixth but he is taking a grid penalty for a power unit change putting him to the back of the grid, thereby promoting Piastri, Gasly, Lawson and Lindblad up a position along with everyone else placed below him and Alonso.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1m 31.373
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.054
3	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 0.123
4	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.189
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.339
6*	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.374
7	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.487
8	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 0.852
9	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 0.996
10	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+ 1.408
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	1m 32.784
12	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 0.124
13	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 0.539
14	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 0.742
15	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+ 0.874
16	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+ 1.003
17*	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1m 34.223
18	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.066
19	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.723
20	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+ 0.900
21	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+ 1.761
22	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	No Time

*Alonso and Russell will start from the back of the grid after they opted to take new power units.