Max Verstappen completes a Marina Bay double, beating Charles Leclerc to pole for his 50th career P1 while George Russell's title hopes take another hit.
Max Verstappen is making Marina Bay his playground. The Red Bull driver followed up his sprint victory with a razor-sharp qualifying lap to take pole for the Singapore Grand Prix, edging Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by just five-hundredths of a second.
The pole is a landmark one. It is Verstappen's 50th in Formula 1 and his first at the Singapore street circuit, a track that has not always been kind to him. It also stretches a run of form that has made him the man to beat right now, with his best stretch of the season arriving at the perfect moment.
Behind the front row, Lewis Hamilton qualified third, with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli right behind him in fourth. That sets up a tense fight through the opening corners, where the walls of Marina Bay punish even the smallest mistake.
The sprint was a very different story for George Russell. The Briton was leading on lap one when he crashed out, a costly error that dealt another blow to his already slim title hopes. With Verstappen flying and Leclerc close enough to threaten, Russell will need a big recovery to stay relevant in the championship picture.
