Carlos Sainz put Ferrari on pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix in a shock on Saturday for Max Verstappen and the dominant Red Bull, whose record run of 15 consecutive victories looks set to end.
The pole position was the Spaniard’s second in a row, as well as the third in four races for the Italian team.
“I knew I had the right pace. I knew I could do it,” said Sainz, who also took pole at Ferrari’s home Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago but finished third behind Red Bull.
“Now more than ever it’s true that I want to do this, not like in Monza,” said Sainz, who has Mercedes’ George Russell lurking on the front row. “Tomorrow we will try to get the victory.”
Championship leader Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez failed to crack the top 10, a surprising turnaround for a team that had won the previous race with two drivers and appeared to be in a championship of its own.
Suddenly, Red Bull was nowhere to be found and Verstappen’s hopes of taking a record-breaking 11th consecutive victory seemed to have vanished on an urban circuit where overtaking was never easy.
The 25-year-old Dutchman qualified in 11th place and then faced three questions from a flight attendant post-qualifying for allegedly obstructing other drivers. Two of the investigations ended with a reprimand and the other with no further action.
“It was a shocking experience, absolutely shocking,” Verstappen said on the radio.
“I knew it would be difficult to get pole, but I didn’t expect it,” he told Sky Sports, saying the car had been very difficult to drive.
Asked whether victory was out of the question, the Dutchman, who has won 12 races this season and has yet to finish lower than second place, told reporters: “Yes, you can forget about it.
“You can’t pass. On other tracks you can start last and win the race. But not here.”
Pérez, last year’s winner, spun and qualified 13th for what will be his 250th Formula One start.
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Without the Red Bulls on the track, their rivals had everything to compete with and Sainz made his lap count with a best time of 1 minute 30.984 seconds.
Leclerc, last year’s pole holder, was looking to secure the front row for the Italian team, but Russell managed to set a time just 0.072 slower than Sainz.
McLaren’s Lando Norris will start fourth in his newly improved car, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, a four-time winner in Singapore, fifth on the grid and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen sixth.
“I really hope George gets a good start tomorrow and puts pressure on the Ferraris. It would be fantastic for him to win,” Hamilton said.
Fernando Alonso, of Aston Martin, starts seventh, Esteban Ocon, of Alpine, eighth, Nico Hulkenberg, of Haas, ninth and Liam Lawson, of AlphaTauri, tenth.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll suffered a serious crash on the final corner in the dying seconds of the opening session, causing red flags to be displayed and delaying the start of the second stage.
Stroll emerged alone from the wrecked car, which crashed into the barriers almost head-on and with such force that the left front wheel was torn off and he was taken to the medical center to be examined.
The Canadian returned to the paddock later after receiving full clearance.
Red flags hit McLaren Australian rookie Oscar Piastri, whose final lap was aborted and left him 17th on the grid on a narrow track where overtaking is a challenge.
“It should have been enough to get through,” he said of his return at that point. “This makes our night tomorrow very difficult.”
(Writing by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by Toby Chopra and Pritha Sarkar)
Source: Terra
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