F1 Singapore GP: Verstappen, Other Drivers React To Sprint Qualifying

It's not for the main race on Sunday yet, but Red Bull should be pleased with their Friday's performance. Max Verstappen, who won last weekend in Malaysia, qualified for pole in Singapore's first-ever Sprint Race, confirming the RB26's much-improved one-lap pace. 

There were mixed reactions from the rest of the grid after Friday's Sprint Qualifying, but we'll start with a happy four-time World Champion.

Verstappen built on his momentum from the Sepang victory with pole in Sprint Qualifying at Marina Bay. He set the fastest time of 1:31.156 in SQ3, despite the pressure of only having one fast lap in the session. Verstappen was actually surprised about the RB26's one-lap pace in SQ3.

There was a big concern at one point after Verstappen was investigated over a potential yellow flag infringement during SQ1. But the Red Bull driver fortunately came away without any penalties.

Verstappen: "It's always close here in Singapore. For sure, once we bolted on the soft tyres, it felt like the car was coming alive a little bit more, but I did not expect this. Of course, I'm very happy to be first." 

After car reliability issues that forced him to DNF in Sepang, George Russell bounced back with a P2 finish in Sprint Qualifying. He was very close to beating Verstappen for pole, but the British driver was in happy spirits after a "relatively good first day" in the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Singapore has rewarded Russell as of late, as he was the most recent F1 Grand Prix winner around here.

Russell: "It's been a relatively good first day for me here in Singapore. We were competitive in FP1, topping the time sheets and my final lap in SQ3 felt good. We knew coming into the session that Max was fast and unfortunately, we couldn't quite get ahead of him with that last effort. We can still be pleased with our efforts though."

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc held provisional pole after the first runs in SQ3, but he settled for P3 after those stonking laps from Verstappen and Russell. It wasn't the best result for the Monegasque driver, but he says that the SF-26 has potential to have more pace in tomorrow's main qualifying session.

Leclerc: "On my best lap, I got everything out of the car that we had today. There's potential to improve for tomorrow with some fine tuning, so we can be there in the fight for pole."

Russell ran the older specifications of the Mercedes car, while Kimi Antonelli had the new upgrades. However, Antonelli's car was obviously slower, as he qualified down in seventh place for the Sprint Race.

The current championship leader is now focused on understanding the upgrades and getting them to work in time.

Antonelli: "From the first session onwards, I wasn't quite able to find the rhythm I was looking for and that made it hard to maximise the package when it mattered most. We still have more understanding to do in regard to our upgrade, and the focus will be on working through the data overnight to build a clearer picture of where we can improve."

Arvid Lindblad's early exit in SQ1 was one of the biggest surprises of the session. The rookie driver said that the yellow flag affected his planned runs in SQ1, and he never got into his rhythm. 

His teammate, Liam Lawson, qualified eighth. That's never a good sign for a Formula 1 driver.

Still, it was Lindblad's first F1 drive in Singapore. Expect him to do a better job in the main qualifying session on Saturday.

Lindblad: "It’s a tough situation coming in as a rookie with only one Free Practice session at a street circuit, especially with the very different conditions under the lights compared to this afternoon. I wanted to complete a few laps in SQ1 to build up confidence, but the yellow flag meant we weren’t able to do that."

Another software issue affected the performance of several drivers in SQ1, including Carlos Sainz Jr. The Spanish driver was dead last in the timesheet, who joined teammate Alex Albon exiting after the first session of Sprint Qualifying.

Sainz said that his lap was negatively affected by software issues, which the FIA admitted as a "human error" on their part..

Sainz: "We had another software issue that impacted multiple cars. It was momentary, but I lost power during my flying lap and the lap was compromised. On top of that, we had some issues in FP1 with the brakes and had to make some changes that weren’t ideal."

It's very difficult to beat Max Verstappen when he's starting from pole. That's especially true in the streets of Marina Bay, where overtaking is challenging. If Russell or Leclerc can't overtake Verstappen into Turn 1, expect the Dutchman to emerge victorious on Saturday's Sprint Race.