Russell claims first career pole in Singapore
…Williams’ Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz disqualified
George Russell takes pole in Singapore for the first time in his career with a stunning lap in Q3, and is joined on the front row by Max Verstappen.
It was Mercedes’ first pole in Singapore since Hamilton set his famous lap in 2018 and came as a surprise as Russell gatecrashed Norris and Piastri’s fight.
Russell’s first pole since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, which he won, was achieved by 0.182 seconds from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Russell finished second at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix two weeks ago.
McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri took third place, with his title rival and team-mate Lando Norris fifth, behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc took sixth and seventh.
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Verstappen and Piastri both failed to improve on their final laps – and the Dutchman blamed that on Norris going slowly in front of him in the final sector.
The incident happened on the run to the final corner, where Norris was on the inside coming into the pits as Verstappen sought to complete his lap.
Verstappen, who looked angry about the situation in the immediate aftermath of qualifying, said: “Without that I think it would have been close for pole.”
Norris shrugged the incident off, saying “Ah, they always complain. They complain about everything. It’s Red Bull. I was like three seconds ahead or something.”
Asked whether his brush with the wall on his first lap was a kiss or a hit, Russell said: “A bit more of a snog.
“When you’re on a really strong lap and you just touch the wall like that, you’re a little bit tentative going into the next corner.”
Also, Williams drivers disqualified from Singapore GP qualifying for technical breaches
Williams received some bad news after qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, with both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz being disqualified.
Both Williams cars Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz failed post-qualifying checks on their rear wings.
Albon and Sainz placed 12th and 13th in Saturday night’s session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit but will lose those results after the team failed post-Qualifying checks.
“The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked on car numbers 23 (Albon) and 55 (Sainz),” read a note from FIA F1 Technical Delegate Jo Bauer. “Both cars exceeded the maximum limit of 85mm on both sides of the rear wing outer area.”
This violates Article 3.10.10 g. of the Technical Regulations, which covers the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and states that “at all points along the span, when the DRS is in the state of deployment, the two sections the rear wing profiles must have a minimum gap of between 9.4mm and 85mm.”
