Max Verstappen took pole position in the F1 Sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.
Can he make it two in a row on Saturday?
Big points, of course, are awarded on Sunday. If you want to score big points in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, you need to be out front, as the tight, tight Marina Bay Street circuit doesn’t allow for easy overtaking.
We’ll be covering the qualifiers live here and on the new SB Nation app, which starts at 9:00 a.m. ET. So check back often to see how the session is progressing!
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Singapore Grand Prix provisional grid
Here is the provisional starting grid for the Singapore Grand Prix that will be filled during the qualifying hour:
Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st row | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| 2nd row | 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 4 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| 3rd row | 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 6 | George Russell | Mercedes |
| 4th row | 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alp |
| 5th row | 9 | Liam Lawson | VCARB | 10 | Arvid Lindblad | VCARB |
| 6th row | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 12 | Oliver Bearman | Haas |
| 7th row | 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 14 | Carlos Sainz | Williams |
| 8th row | 15 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alp |
| 9th row | 17 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 18 | Alexander Albon | Williams |
| 10th row | 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 20 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac |
| 11th row | 21 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 22 | Isaac Hajar | Red Bull |
Here’s how the qualifying hour went. All updates are Eastern Time.
10:33 a.m.: Russell moves up to sixth, but remember he will be at the back of the grid tomorrow due to a penalty.
10:32 a.m.: There was not much improvement at the end of the 3rd quarter. Leclerc moves into Q2 but it’s Max Verstappen’s day. He takes the pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in his career. (Yes, he took the Sprint pole yesterday, but this is his first Singapore Grand Prix pole).
10:25 a.m.: Verstappen, Hamilton, Antonelli, Leclerc, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Lawson, Gasly and Lindblad have the order after their first Q3 runs.
Max vs. Lewis for pole?
10:19 a.m.: Q3 continues, with all ten drivers on track.
10:17 a.m.: Q3 will start in Singapore.
10:12 a.m.: Hülkenberg, Bearman, Ocon, Sainz, Bortoleto and Colapinto are in six places at the end of Q2.
10:10: One quality minute left. Gasly, Ocon, Bearman, Sainz, Bortoleto and Colapinto are still in the bottom six.
10:08 a.m.: Piastri moves into the top five by lap five, relegating Verstappen to 6th.
10:07 a.m.: At the sharp end, Hamilton leads Norris, Antonelli, Leclerc and Verstappen.
10:05 a.m.: With almost five minutes remaining in Q2, Gasly, Ocon, Bearman, Sainz, Colapinto and Bortoleto are the six drivers in the drop zone.
10:04 a.m.: Bortoleto with a big slide, but he keeps the Audi on track and off the walls.
10:02 a.m.: “Crazy, crazy bad shifts. Bad downshifts,” Verstappen said.
Death, taxes and Verstappen disappointed with his rival’s gear change.
9:57 a.m. Q2 continues. The clock ticks down to 15 minutes.
9:55 a.m.: The second quarter will begin, drivers line up at the end of the pit lane.
9:50 a.m.: Alonso, Albon, Stroll, Perez, Bottas and Hadjar are the six drivers in the first quarter.
9:49 a.m.: The checkered flag is out, the final lap times are approaching. Alonso and Hadcar finished first, but four more will join them.
9:46 a.m.: Hadjar exits RB22 and his qualifying clock is up.
9:44 a.m. Hamilton crosses to purple between sectors 1 and 2 and jumps to P1.
9:43 a.m.: Five minutes left in the first quarter and the six drivers in the drop zone are Lindblad, Albon, Perez, Bottas, Bortoleto and Hadjar.
9:42 a.m.: Seven minutes left in the first quarter and Norris still leads the leaderboard with a 1:33.047. Piastri is 0.029 seconds behind him in P2.
9:40 a.m.: With nine minutes to go in Q1, Norris leads Verstappen, Hamilton, Antonelli and Colapinto.
9:38 a.m.: Russell reports that he “smells fire” and asks the team to pay attention to the brakes.
9:36 a.m.: More trouble for Hagar. “The engine is off,” reports the driver. He stopped on the track.
9:33 a.m.: Ocon went deep into the wall in Turn 13 as a low-speed left-hander. He goes again, but reports that he has “no brakes.”
9:30 a.m.: Green light in Marina Bay, qualifying continues.
9:28 a.m.: The cars are already lined up at the end of the pit lane and it looks like Russell will be ready to go.
9:26 a.m.: The best sign that a session is around the corner? The opening credits are played on the broadcast.
9:12 a.m.: Speculation that Russell’s car would not be ready for the start of qualifying, even with the delay. But Russell is facing a big grid drop, so this session isn’t as critical for him as the rest of the grid.
9:08 a.m.: Qualifying will begin at 9:30 PM local time, 9:30 AM Eastern.
9:05 a.m.: Still on delay, pre-quali show for VCARB talking about driver transfer options.
8:56 a.m.: The start of the qualifying round has been postponed and we are waiting for the start time.
What happened in the F1 Sprint race?
Downpours on parts of the track delayed the start, and when the lights finally went out, Russell got the better of Verstappen at the start… but a “stupid” crash on the opening lap ended his day early. After the race, the McLarens tangled and it ended Oscar Piastri’s day early as Piastri and Lando Norris touched briefly and spun both cars.
Verstappen was leading at the checkered flag, followed by Hamilton and Leclerc. Antonelli bounced back from a low-key F1 Sprint qualifying session to finish fourth, with Lawson, Bearman, Hulkenberg and Norris rounding out the points.