Singapore GP Qualifying: Russell stuns Verstappen and Piastri
F1 NewsSaturday, 04 October 2025 at 16:14
George Russell stunned rivals and took pole for the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix after a surge late in the session, denying Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.
Russell left his best till last as Mercedes did not have a strong start to their weekend in Singapore, but their W16 appeared to come alive in qualifying as the Briton went fastest in Q2 and finished the job with a stunning banker lap in Q3 following that up with a slightly improved lap.
It was also a great recovery for Russell who crashed in FP2 and lost track time which makes grabbing pole even more impressive.
Defending Formula 1 Champion, Verstappen, was left seething as his final lap in Q3 was ruined by Lando Norris driving slowly which meant he had to abort the lap and settle for second, 0.182s off the pace.
However, replay showed Verstappen locking up before he reached Norris... Was he distracted or was his car affected by Norris who was two seconds ahead.
2009 F1 Champion Jenson Button explained: "With these cars, you get affected by a car a couple seconds up the road which is a pain but that's why the move over immediately.
"I think he's frustrated Lando didn't move over before the chicane. He doesn't have to within the regulations but it obviously hurt his front end as he turned into the corner and put him off line," Button added.
Once again, McLaren failed to deliver on their reputation as the team to beat as Piastri had to settle for third, 0.366s off the pace with Norris down in fifth as Kimi Antonelli split the Papaya cars to post the fourth fastest lap.
Despite being the fastest driver in Q1, Lewis Hamilton only managed to be sixth fastest at the end of qualifying but outqualified his teammate, Charles Leclerc who was only good for seventh, 0.096s behind the Briton.
Isack Hadjar was superb all weekend and delivered when it mattered in qualifying and will line up eighth on Sunday's starting grid for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Oliver Bearman as well was excellent and qualified ninth in the Haas while Fernando Alonso was tenth despite a strong start to the weekend. At least he made Q3.
Three drivers will be under investigation for possible Yellow Flag infringements in Q1 after Pierre Gasly broke down on track - Nico Hulkenberg - Gabriel Bortoleto - Yuki Tsunoda.
Williams were also being investigated for DRS infringement as the gap in their rear wings was more than allowed by the rules when the DRS is closed.
What the top three said
After taking his second pole in 2025, Russell said: "Amazing to be on pole position. Yesterday was a very challenging day for many different reasons but good to come back and get a result.
"A long sweaty race tomorrow but I knew there was potential in the car. Kimi was doing an amazing job all weekend.
"I gained quite a lot to see what he was capable of doing yesterday. Very happy to be on pole," he maintained.
Russell will start the race with Verstappen sharing the front row with him, he commented: "Singapore hasn't been the kindest to me in the past, that's been through my own doing the majority of the time.
"I won't get carried away with pole," he stated. "Of course, it's the best place to start. There's a good pole-side advantage but I like to think I can hold the lead but this guy [Verstappen] is good at race starts and sending it down the inside."
Verstappen did not hide his anger of the incident with Norris and said when asked of he made a mistake: "That's what happens when there's a car in front of you just cruising two seconds in front.
"That's noted, it will be remembered as well," he added.
"Not Oscar," was the Dutchman's response when asked who the driver was. "So that was a bit of a shame, otherwise I think it could have been close for pole.
"It's always very exciting here in qualifying. Of course I'm disappointed to not be first, but for us this weekend so far has been really good.
"The car has been very competitive, so for us to be second again is very good," Verstappen concluded.
Piastri admitted McLaren did not have to pace for pole; he commented: "I would have wanted more today but I don't think we had four tenths in it to get pole.
"Ultimately, pretty happy. It's been a good weekend so far and built up to it nicely. A clean session and that's all I can ask for," the Australian added.
Q1: Gasly breaks down, but no major surprises
Temperatures dropped ahead of qualifying compared to FP3 as track temperature was at 35 degrees as the session was green-lighted while air temperature was 30 degrees.
The drivers lined up in the pitlane waiting for the greed light at the exit to turn on as the got ready for what was expected to be a hectic Q1.
Hamilton started his flying lap but ran wide, over the kerbs, at Turn 1 and had to abort the lap.
Williams driver Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon went first and second with Lance Stroll, Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, and Gasly completing the top six.
Then Leclerc went to the top but Hadjar dropped him to second only for Norris to claim the top position as Verstappen started his lap and went to the top. Hamilton then went second fastest.
Piastri had to abort his first lap due to Yellow flags as Albon was getting out of his way off track, which prompted race control to put up the Yellows.
Piastri noted over the radio that you can't put out a Yellow flag when someone is getting out of the way.
Bearman did a great job going second fastest on his first timed lap, but that did not last for long.
With eight minutes remaining, Gasly, Antonelli, and Piastri did not post laps yet as others started new laps in a bid to improve as the names were continuously reshuffled on the timing screens.
With less than five minutes, Antonelli was yet to post a lap time as his first attempt was ruined by slow cars, three to be precise.
The Italian though kept his head down and went second on his banker.
In the drop zone with three minutes remaining, and ahead of the final runs: Bortoleto - Hulkenberg - Esteban Ocon - Gasly - Tsunoda.
Towards the end of the session, Gasly brought out the Yellow Flag and was stationary on the side of the road as it seemed he suffered a car issue.
In the end, Hamilton topped the times with a 1:29.765, 0.163s clear of Russell in second place as Norris was third.
The rest of the top 15 were: Verstappen - Antonelli - Hadjar - Piastri - Leclerc - Bearman - Tsunoda - Sainz - Lawson - Hulkenberg - Alonso - Albon.
Out of qualifying were led by Gabriel Bortoleto in 16th, losing out to Albon by 0.045s as Lance Stroll was down in 17th with Franco Colapinto in 18th.
Esteban Ocon and Gasly were 19th and 20th.
Q2: Bearman makes Q3, both Williams out!
The start of Q2 was delayed as race control were looking into all drivers that improved after Gasly's breakdown to check whether anyone violated Yellow flag conditions.
But then race control decided to investigate Bortoleto, Hulkenberg, Russell, Tsunoda, and Stroll for potential Yellow Flag infringement, but Stroll and Russell were off the hook immediately.
Verstappen was the first in the car queue waiting for the green light at the end of the pitlane and duly went on to set the first timed lap of Q2.
Verstappen went fastest and Bearman went second fastest. But then Hadjar dropped the Haas driver to third, while Sainz relegated him to fourth claiming third. Alonso then took third.
The came Russell and Antonelli, the first going fourth fastest on used Softs while Antonelli went second as Norris was rounding up his lap.
Norris went third fastest while Piastri then went second as Antonelli's time was deleted for track limits at Turn 2.
Then Hamilton came along, followed by Leclerc. The Briton went third while his teammate was 13th after having contact with the walls. Hamilton also had a couple of moments on his lap.
Order after first runs: Verstappen - Piastri - Hamilton - Norris - Hadjar - Alonso - Russell - Sainz - Hulkenberg - Bearman.
In the drop zone: Lawson - Tsunoda - Leclerc - Albon - Antonelli.
Antonelli went straight out for a lap while Ferrari replaced the front wing on Leclerc's car as he must have damaged it on his first time lap.
Antonelli then had a moment and nearly dropped it at Turn 4, but got away with it and kept going and went to the top of the timing screens. Russell then went even faster.
With all the drivers doing their second runs, the order going into Q3 was: Russell - Verstappen - Antonelli - Norris - Piastri - Leclerc - Hamilton - Hadjar - Alonso - Bearman.
Those who failed to make Q3, they were led by Hulkenberg who was in 11th as Albon and Sainz followed in 12th and 13th respectively. A disappointing result for Williams after some early promise.
Lawson and Tsunoda were 14th and 15th respectively.
Q3: Russell denies Verstappen and the McLarens
Without any delay, the final stage of qualifying was given the green light as all the drivers except Verstappen, Piastri, and Hamilton head out on track.
Russell was the first driver to start a flying lap in Q3 and Antonello followed. Russell went fastest but after brushing the wall.
Antonelli went second fastest and Bearman was third as Norris came along with Leclerc in his wake. Hamilton, Piastri and Verstappen followed. Piastri also brushed the wall but got away with it.
Norris went third and Leclerc went fourth while Hamilton took fourth from his teammate. Piastri went second as Verstappen came in second.
First runs and Russell on provisional pole, the order: Russell - Verstappen - Piastri - Antonelli - Norris - Hamilton - Leclerc - Hadjar - Bearman -Alonso.
With less than four minutes remaining, the drivers went out on track for the final time on Saturday night in Singapore.
Norris went out first and started his final lap in Q3 earlier than others as Verstappen and Piastri took their time.
Norris scraped the wall at Turn 4 and was on the back foot after the Sector 1 and could not recover the deficit to Russell's provisional pole time. He did not improve.
Then came Leclerc and Russell. Leclerc was seventh as Russell improved a bit as Antonelli did not improve on his second run.
The came Hamilton, Piastri and Verstappen. Hamilton stayed in sixth as Piastri was not improving and neither was Verstappen who aborted his lap and settled for second.
It was pole position for Russell with Verstappen in second and Piastri in third.
The rest: Antonelli - Norris - Hamilton - Leclerc - Hadjar - Bearman - Alonso.
Singapore GP Qualifying Provisional Classification
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