Formula 1 Qualifying Thriller

A First! Verstappen Claims His First Pole in Singapore

Max Verstappen(Bild: AFP/LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA)

Max Verstappen had never secured pole position in Singapore in his career—until today! The Red Bull driver “won” qualifying and will start from the front of the grid in tomorrow’s race.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has been the dominant driver of the Formula 1 weekend in Singapore so far and is also the man of the moment in the world championship. Six days after securing his first victory of the season in Malaysia, the Dutchman followed up in the city-state by starting from pole position, winning the Sprint, and taking first place in qualifying for the Grand Prix scheduled for Sunday (2:00 p.m., LIVE on the Sportkrone.at live ticker). Behind the Red Bull star, the Ferraris lined up on Saturday.

Here are the results in detail:

The “Oranje” secured his 50th career pole—making him the fifth driver overall to do so, after Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel. According to ORF, the 29-year-old (as of last week) is the first to achieve this feat before turning 30. He is now also the favorite to claim his first Grand Prix victory in Singapore, where the race has been held since 2008—and this will be his 250th Grand Prix.

“I’m obviously very happy. The car has been very strong all weekend,” said Verstappen. “The trend is very, very positive for us. It’s very special to be on pole here.” Leclerc cited braking issues in Q1 and Q2. “But then I put in a good lap at just the right moment. I had the potential to be on pole,” said the Monegasque driver, though he acknowledged Verstappen’s performance. For Hamilton, however, it was the other way around after setting the fastest time in Q1 and Q2. “I was able to push hard, then I ran into problems. Red Bull is doing an incredible job.”

Max Verstappen(Bild: EPA/FAZRY ISMAIL)

Verstappen Now Wants the “Real Win”
The sprint victory didn’t quite satisfy Verstappen. “That doesn’t count as a win for me; I want to win tomorrow. But to do that, we need to improve our start,” he said after the chaotic sprint race, which began more than half an hour late due to rain. At the start, Verstappen was outmaneuvered by George Russell, who spun off the track on the wet surface as early as lap two. After a subsequent safety car period, the order—Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc—remained unchanged until the end of the 20-lap race.

Never before in the 30 World Championship sprints held to date have so many drivers retired. Verstappen has won 14 of all sprints—almost half. This year, it was his first victory in this format; all six sprints of this season have now been completed.

Here are the World Championship standings:

Antonelli with a bittersweet result
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli started from seventh position but moved up to fourth thanks to the McLaren mishap. With Russell’s retirement, the youngster extended his lead in the championship to 89 points. Antonelli then also secured fourth place in qualifying. “It’s bittersweet,” the young star said of his performance. “The final lap was very promising until I made a mistake.” He’s still trying to understand the update Mercedes brought to Malaysia. “I’ve been trying to adjust my driving style. It’s going to be a difficult race.”

In front of Kim Kardashian, 41-year-old Hamilton missed becoming the oldest pole sitter since Mario Andretti—who was 42 at the time—in 1982 by 0.123 seconds. Leclerc missed out on the top spot on the grid by 0.054 seconds. “It’s a pretty good result for us,” Hamilton said. “We’ll try to put pressure on Max.” Norris finished fifth ahead of Russell—who was starting from the back of the grid due to a penalty carried over from Malaysia—and Piastri. The latter sounded somewhat resigned: “We’re just not fast enough. We ended up right where we expected.”