Carlos Sainz wins qualifying in Singapore

Dark. Dry. Air +30…29С, highway +35…34С

Even with three DRS zones, qualifying in Singapore is the most important session of the weekend. It’s a pity that the teams did not agree with the FIA ​​​​on the fourth, when as a result of construction work at the site of the rectangle of turns 16-19 a long and fast straight appeared – so at least we could get there find out if this idea would work.

During the thirteen years that the Singapore Grand Prix has existed, the race has been won eight times by the pole holder. The ‘everything is determined by the starting position’ principle was interrupted a few times by rain and once by a deliberate accident by Nelsinho Piquet, allowing Fernando Alonso, who started 15th, to win the race. Now Felipe Massa is trying to annul the results of this Grand Prix in absentia and is suing Formula 1 to win the title in absentia.

This time all training took place on dry asphalt and the Ferrari drivers were all in the lead. On Friday and Saturday the best time was reserved for Carlos Sainz, who stood on the podium for the first time in this Grand Prix last year.

Pirelli brought the softest rubber compounds to the podium – C3, C4 and C5 in Hard, Medium and Soft roles, but on slippery asphalt many complained of poor grip.

In the first session everyone went to Soft. For the first time in the last Grand Prix, the stands were not painted in the colors of one of the drivers, but were completely filled and equally indifferent to everyone. Unfortunately, Singapore is no Zandvoort or Monza.

Okon and Tsunoda lightly hit the barrier with their left rear wheel and shook off dust, Sargent interfered with Stroll – the stewards reviewed this incident and limited themselves to a warning.

The condition of the track improved quickly as the asphalt was covered with used rubber. Everything was decided in the last minutes, as if in the rain. The results were solid. Everyone was affected by the traffic, but in the end the top ten fit within four tenths.

Yuki Tsunoda unexpectedly set the fastest time with a lap of 1:31.991 before Stroll’s car stopped on the starting line after spinning and hitting the wall. The session was stopped with red flags. His car lost the left front, but Lance was able to get out on his own.

The start of the second session was postponed – it was necessary to restore the barrier, which took time, to remove debris and the remains of technical fluids. Lance was sent to the medical center for a check-up and then returned to the team.

Bottas, Piastri, Sargent, Zhou and Stroll dropped out of further competition. Commenting on the results of the session, Oscar Piastri said that the red flags appeared when he was in the last sector and he had to slow down or he would have passed further.

In the second session everyone went back to Soft. Verstappen interfered with Tsunoda – and the stewards took care of this incident.

In the final seconds Perez spun at the third corner and dropped out of qualifying, as did Verstappen, who showed the 11th fastest time – Liam Lawson, a member of the Red Bull youth program replacing Daniel Ricciardo, knocked him out of the top ten.

Sainz again showed the best time and completed a lap in 1:31.439. Verstappen, Gasly, Perez, Albon and Tsunoda did not qualify for the final.

In the final There was virtually no traffic disruption, but speeds also increased. The Ferrari drivers still had to decide in which order they would start from the front row, but Russell intervened in their battle.

On the first attempt Sainz topped the timesheet – 1:31.170, and on the second he went even faster – 1:30.984.

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Carlos Sainz won qualifying in Singapore, taking his second pole position in a row and the fifth of his career. George Russell qualified second, 72 thousandths behind, Charles Leclerc was third, 79 thousandths behind the leader. Considering that the Red Bull drivers will start outside the top ten, the race promises to be interesting!

Qualifying results