dpa
Singapore
Charles Leclerc on Saturday secured pole position for the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix as he and Ferrari try to spoil Max Verstappen’s possible world title party.
But the Dutchman might have seen his chances of clinching the title on Sunday slipping away after a disappointing eighth place in the session.
The Monegasque driver Leclerc clocked 1 minutes 49.412 seconds around the 5.063-kilometre Marina Bay Street Circuit to beat Red Bull’s Sergio Perez by a narrow advantage of 0.022 second for his ninth pole of the season and 18th overall.
“It’s been a very, very tricky qualifying,” Leclerc said. “I made a mistake in my last lap so I didn’t think I’d get pole but it was just enough.” Perez, meanwhile, has his eyes set on a possible win in Singapore.
“It’s a good opportunity to attack Charles and go for the win. 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,” he said.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes was third, just 0.054 second behind Leclerc. It’s a great result for the Briton who has been struggling with Mercedes this season.
“I was pushing so hard, it was so, so close. These guys are so quick, but I thought with a perfect lap we could fight for first place, but I just didn’t have the grip in the last lap,” he said.
Red Bull’s Verstappen was forced to abort a last flying lap, in which he appeared set to clinch pole. He was ordered by the team to return to the pits and has to be content with eighth.
Team advisor Helmut Marko told broadcasters Sky that Verstappen had to return to the pits due to a lack of fuel. If he had completed the lap, he could have been left without the enough fuel sample demanded by F1 ruling body FIA.
Failing to present the fuel sample would result in a disqualification from qualifying entirely.
Eleven-time season winner Verstappen has won races from behind before this season and, leading Leclerc by 116 points in the championship, has a first opportunity to clinch back-to-back world titles. But to achieve this he needs to win the race on Sunday, gain another 22 points on Leclerc and have other results also go his way.
Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz was fourth, followed by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Alpine, Lando Norris of McLaren and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly.
Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Yuki Tsunoda in the other Alpha Tauri completed the top 10.
In the other Mercedes, George Russell dropped out of the session in Q2 and will start the race in 11th. He later explained that an issue with the car was making it hard for him to complete the turns.
Starting Grid
Front row: Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari); Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)
2nd rowcTypeface:> Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes); Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)
3rd row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine); Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)
4th row: Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri); Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)
5th rowcTypeface:> Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas); Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri)
6th row: George Russell (GBR/Mercedes); Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)
7th row: Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas); Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin)
8th row: Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo); Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo)
9th row: Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren); Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)
10th row: Alexander Albon (THA/Williams); Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams).
