F1 Singapore Qualifying: Carlos Sainz on pole, Red Bull off pace

Red Bull Racing will have a lot of work to do if it means to continue its win streak Sunday.

Q1 was looking toward an exciting finish with multiple cars out after the checkered flag, but Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll had a bad shunt near the finish line that entirely totaled his car and red-flagged the session. As as result, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda technically led Q1 and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and both Alfa Romeo cars didn’t get a chance to improve their times, knocking them out of qualifying.

Q2 saw a shocking development, with both Red Bulls getting knocked out — Max Verstappen placed 11th and Sergio Perez placed 13th. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz led the session, and Q2 also saw a great performance by AlphaTauri driver Liam Lawson when he qualified 10th and made in into Q3.

In the end, though, it was Sainz’s day. He qualified 1st to grab his second pole of the year, and it was almost a Ferrari 1-2 in Singapore for the first time since 2014, but Charles Leclerc was foiled by a late flyer from George Russell, who qualified second. Given the difficulty overtaking in Singapore, Red Bull’s win streak is perhaps more in danger on Sunday than it ever has been.

Here is how the final results shaped out:

  1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) [1:30.984]
  2. George Russell (Mercedes) [1:31.056]
  3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) [1:31.063]
  4. Lando Norris (McLaren) [1:31.270]
  5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) [1:31.485]
  6. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) [1:31.575]
  7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) [1:31.615]
  8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) [1:31.673]
  9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) [1:31.808]
  10. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri) [1:32.268]
  11. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) [1:32.173]
  12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) [1:32.274]
  13. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) [1:32.310]
  14. Alexander Albon (Williams) [1:33.719]
  15. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) [No time in Q2]
  16. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) [1:32.809]
  17. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) [1:32.902]
  18. Logan Sargeant (Williams) [1:33.252]
  19. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) [1:33.258]
  20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) [1:33.397]