#F1 #SingaporeGP Qualifying: @LandoNorris beats @Max33Verstappen to pole as @ScuderiaFerrari stumbles.
Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38, celebrating in Parc Ferme after taking pole position in Qualifying, Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore. Image credit to Simon Galloway/LAT Images. Norris Singapore GP Pole, 2024 Singapore GP Qualifying, Singapore GP Qualifying Results, F1 Singapore GP Qualifying, 2024 Formula 1 Singapore GP Qualifying Results.
Norris Singapore GP Pole – McLaren’s Lando Norris clinched pole position over championship leader Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix in a disrupted Q3, when last season’s winner Carlos Sainz crashed out during the top ten shootout.
In Q3, the initial flyers saw MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg on a scrub set of softs set a 1:30.848 before being demoted by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who posted two personal bests in the opening two sectors and a purple to go quickest on a 1:30.037.
Verstappen then jumped to the top with his three personal bests and 1:29.711 effort just after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crashed out with eight minutes and four seconds remaining on the clock.
Sainz went through the penultimate corner, the bump in the corner unsettled his SF-24 racer, the Spaniard tried to correct it, and the car snapped the other way, and it sent the Ferrari driver into the barriers with the rear of his SF-24 entry hitting the wall and it brought out the red flag. Verstappen’s time was then deleted as he was behind Sainz on track and thus ran through the double-waved yellows before the red flags came out. The shunt also cost Norris a chance to go to P1, as his two purple sectors were taken away by the stoppage.
This set up a one-lap shootout to decide the pole.
When the session resumed following a fifteen-minute delay after Sainz’s car was cleared, the nine drivers left it late to set their sole flying laps, Piastri set three personal bests to improve to a 1:29.953, then the former was demoted by team-mate Norris who posted a 1:29.525 after setting the best middle sector time and jumped to the pole.
Mercedes’ Hamilton then bumped Piastri from second after posting the best sector three time with a 1:29.841 and then Verstappen demoted the Mercedes driver to snatch second with his 1:29.728 effort and line-up on the front row alongside his 2024 title-challenger.
Russell then slotted into fourth place alongside team-mate Hamilton sending Piastri down to fifth.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg qualified an impressive sixth and ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who was seventh and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda who took eighth.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had his final flyer deleted for exceeding track limits at turn two and relegated the Monegasque driver to ninth alongside his aforementioned team-mate Sainz with both Ferrari drivers not setting a lap-time.
In the second qualifying stage, which was topped by Piastri, a late improvement from RB’s Tsunoda saw Williams’ Alexander Albon miss out on a Q3 appearance by a slim 0.024 seconds meaning the Thai-Briton will start 11th and alongside team-mate Franco Colapinto.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was unable to improve on his final hot-lap ending up 13th on the grid and ahead of MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who were the slowest of the Q2 runners in 14th and 15th.
In the opening segment, which was topped by Norris, late improvements by Sainz, Colapinto and Ocon saw RB’s Daniel Ricciardo drop into 16th and quickest of the Q1 eliminatees in what could be the Australian’s last qualifying of his F1 career.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll made an improvement on his final flyer but was only good enough for 17th and ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who qualified 18th.
Sauber duo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear.
The aforementioned Sainz is currently under investigation from the race stewards for failing to follow race directors instructions – failing to go around the polystyrene arrow at turn one.
You can see the full Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1246/singapore/qualifying
2024 Singapore GP Qualifying – The Top Three
2024 Singapore GP Pole Position – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 1:29.525:
“It was tough, especially through qualifying I was finding it a little difficult to progress much and find lap time. One lap at the end was good enough for pole so happy with that. We got the job done. It got the heart rate going, it was good fun. There was more in it, but the car is feeling good, which makes you confident to go out and push.”
2nd Place – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20 – +0.203s:
“I think the whole of qualifying went quite well, we managed to improve the car run after run. I’m happy to be on the front row when you look at where we were yesterday. I’ll take second, I’m happy with that. Tyres can give you a lot of lap time or lose you a lot of lap time, but for us today in qualifying it worked quite well for us. In Singapore a lot of things can happen but at least we have a shot at it starting like this.”
3rd Place – Sir Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W15 – +0.316s:
“Ah man, qualifying has been a disaster for me all year long. I’ve been working and working and working to get myself back up there. And then the car came alive for me. There was a tiny bit more left in the car but I’m happy with that. We’ve changed everything on balance, moving up and down and the mechanics have been flawless so thank you to them for everything. I think with [tyre] management we can maybe keep up with these guys, we’ll give it everything.”
#F1 #SingaporeGP FP3: @LandoNorris quickest ahead of @GeorgeRussell63, @OscarPiastri.
#F1 #SingaporeGP FP2: @LandoNorris quickest ahead of @ScuderiaFerrari duo.
#F1 #SingaporeGP FP1: @CharlesLeclerc pips @LandoNorris by 0.076s.
