Charles Leclerc claimed pole for the Singapore Grand Prix, putting in a magnificent lap of the street circuit for Ferrari to deny Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton, who was second. In a close qualifying session Sebastian Vettel was in third for Ferrari with Max Verstappen in fourth for Red Bull. Valtteri Bottas was in fifth with Alexander Albon in sixth.
Under the floodlights of the Marina Bay circuit Leclerc took pole with an outstanding lap in qualifying that he left to his final run. Vettel had set a superb time on his first hot lap with a 1min 36.457sec. He was threading the needle with the flair he has shown in Singapore on previous occasions, going to within a whisker of the walls but keeping it clean. However he made an error on his second lap and aborted it while Leclerc found another plane altogether.
His final lap was exceptional, gaining time in the first two sectors and nailing the third, where Ferrari were weakest, with inch-perfect execution. His time of 1:36.217 was untouchable. Hamilton did his best, taking second, but was almost two-tenths down. Ferrari, who had expected to struggle in Singapore, pulled off perhaps their best qualifying of the season, leaving Mercedes and Red Bull wondering just where they had found the pace.
Carlos Sainz enjoyed another strong qualifying to claim seventh for McLaren with his teammate Lando Norris in 10th. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg were in eighth and tenth.
This is Leclerc’s fourth career pole position, his first at the Singapore Grand Prix and his third in a row after he took the top spot at Spa and Monza. It continues his exceptionally strong form over the single lap in which he has out-qualified Vettel for the past eight races. With two wins already under his belt at the last two races he is in the best possible position to take a third.
It will be especially satisfying for Leclerc to claim pole for Ferrari on a track where they expected and appeared to be behind both Mercedes and Red Bull. They have struggled through the slow corners all season and their straight-line speed advantage was mitigated at Marina Bay. However, they had brought a new front wing and floor to Singapore in a bid to find more balance and grip through the corners and unexpectedly they proved to have made a real step forward, showing great form. Leclerc made the most of it and once again gave notice of his credentials as a future world champion.
With the Mercedes very strong through the corners, Leclerc put in a superb run to see off a determined effort from Hamilton and Verstappen, both of whom had shown great pace. The 23 corners of Marina Bay, including many slow 90-degree turns, demand precision execution and it is a track where the driver can really make a difference. While Hamilton with a sublime lap proved able to do so last season, this time Leclerc had the edge.
Red Bull, who have proved to be very strong on the high aero circuits, expected to be in contention and Verstappen was fast throughout. He was quickest in first practice, with Hamilton on top in the second but by only two-tenths. In the final runs on Saturday morning Leclerc was fastest, again two-tenths faster than Hamilton.
A win is far from guaranteed but Leclerc will be confident he can convert pole. The long runs in practice exhibited a distinct pace advantage for Mercedes over Ferrari but with overtaking very difficult on this circuit and a one-stop strategy almost certain, leading from the front of the grid may well be crucial if he can hold the place through turn one.
Hamilton still enjoys a comfortable lead in the world championship, 63 points clear of Bottas, while Verstappen is in third, 99 points back, three in front of Leclerc, who now leads Vettel by 13 points.
Bottas went quickest in the first session, with Leclerc and Vettel heading Q2, where the times were all set on the soft rubber with which they will start the race.
Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez finished in 11th place but will take a five-place grid penalty for taking a new gearbox. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was in 12th with his teammate Kimi Räikkönen in 14th. Pierre Gasly was in 13th for Toro Rosso in front of the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
Daniil Kvyat was in 16th for Toro Rosso, with Lance Stroll 17th for Racing Point in front of the Haas of Romain Grosjean. George Russell and Robert Kubica were in 19th and 20th for Williams.