Charles Leclerc took pole place on Saturday for the Singapore Grand Prix, however Formula One world championship chief Max Verstappen was left fuming after ending solely eighth quickest.
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Leclerc clocked 1:9.412 in his Ferrari in damp circumstances to high the timesheets 0.022 seconds forward of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton third.
Verstappen, who has a mathematical probability to retain his world title this weekend in Singapore, had regarded set to problem Leclerc’s time on his closing flying lap earlier than being instructed to desert by his Red Bull workforce.
The Dutchman, who had set the quickest first sector, then let fly an expletive-peppered tirade over workforce radio after being instructed to abort and return to the pits as a result of he was low on gasoline.
“We ran out of fuel, so it’s just incredibly frustrating and shouldn’t happen,” Verstappen instructed Sky Sports F1.
Only the top-10 shootout for pole befell on slick tyres beneath the lights of the Marina Bay circuit after heavy rain earlier.
‘Very, very tough qualifying’
Most of qualifying noticed vehicles on intermediate tyres on a observe too damp to danger slicks, with the unforgiving concrete partitions of the road format an ever-present hazard for any lack of management.
“It’s been a very, very tricky qualifying,” mentioned Leclerc.
“In Q3 we didn’t know what to do, we went for the soft at the last minute and it paid off. I made a mistake on my last lap so I didn’t think I’d get pole, but it was just enough.”
Monaco’s Leclerc can stop Verstappen from sealing the championship this weekend by ending increased than eighth in Sunday’s race.
Leclerc now has a commanding grid benefit over the Dutchman, who will begin from the fourth row on a circuit that provides few overtaking alternatives.
Perez might assist his Red Bull team-mate by getting forward of Leclerc at first.
“It’s a good opportunity to attack Charles and go for the win,” mentioned the Mexican.
“I was disappointed to miss out on pole by two hundredths. It was so tricky to learn the conditions today and tomorrow could be wet.”
Seven-time world champion Hamilton produced his finest qualifying efficiency of the season, ending in the highest three for the primary time, solely 0.054 behind Leclerc.
‘We’ll combat tomorrow’ – Lewis Hamilton
“I was pushing so hard, it was so, so close,” mentioned Hamilton.
“These guys are so fast, however I believed with an ideal lap we might combat for first place, however I simply didn’t have the grip in the final lap.
“We’ll get up and fight again tomorrow.”
Verstappen must win the race, rating 22 factors greater than Leclerc and see team-mate Perez end fourth or decrease to retain his world title with 5 races to spare, or the chase strikes on to Japan subsequent week.
But he has to discover a well beyond seven drivers to do this, which seems to be extraordinarily unlikely.
Ahead of him are Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso – who was fifth quickest in the Alpine forward of his 350th GP begin – and the McLaren of Lando Norris in sixth.
Lining up alongside Verstappen on the fourth row can be Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri.
It wasn’t all excellent news for Mercedes. George Russell failed to search out any grip on his intermediate tyres and had a shock failure to make it into Q3 after being solely eleventh quickest.
Alex Albon, who did nicely simply to make it to Singapore three weeks after appendicitis on the Italian Grand Prix after which struggling issues from surgical procedure, was nineteenth in his Williams.
Grid for the Singapore Grand Prix, the seventeenth spherical of the 22-race Formula One world championship, after qualifying on Saturday:
Front row
Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)
Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)
2nd row
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)
Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)
third row
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine)
Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)
4th row
Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri)
Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)
fifth row
Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas)
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri)
sixth row
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)
Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)
seventh row
Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas)
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin)
eighth row
Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo)
Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo)
ninth row
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren)
Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)
tenth row
Alexander Albon (THA/Williams)
Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams)
