Singapore GP Qualifying: Teams and Drivers report from Marina Bay Circuit

It wasn't until Q2 that Russell started showing his hand as the Singapore GP Qualifying progressed towards it final stages with the Mercedes driver topping Q2 before grabbing pole as Verstappen's challenger fell short after an encounter with Lando Norris on the four-time Formula 1 Champion's final Q3 lap.

It was not McLaren's day once again as Oscar Piastri was third while Norris was fifth while Ferrari also did not deliver despite a brief moment when Lewis Hamilton was top of the timing screens at the end of Q1. He ultimately qualified sixth but at least bettered Charles Leclerc who was seventh.

Qualifying for the Singapore GP saw drivers such as Isack Hadjar and Ollie Bearman overdeliver and make Q3 which was also the case with Fernando Alonso who was tenth although the Spaniard should be gutted after the promising start Aston Martin had to their weekend around he Marina Bay Circuit.

Williams were disqualified as the FIA scrutineering found that their rear wings on both their cars were illegal.

While we covered what the top teams and drivers said after Qualifying at the Marina Bay Circuit, check out what the rest had to say.

Isack Hadjar (P8): "It was frustrating out there today. It's nice that we finished again in Q3, but at the same time, we wasted the potential that was there. It was also the first time we made it to Q3 saving two new sets of Softs. I was pushing hard during my last lap in Qualifying and I felt like I was going for a special lap, but unfortunately, I made a mistake in turn 8, so I can only be annoyed at myself as the car worked really well. Looking at tomorrow, we'll be starting P8 which sadly is on the dirty side of the grid. There are really fast cars ahead of us and overtaking is quite difficult on this track, but we'll try our best to fight and bring home some points."

Liam Lawson (P14): "The team have done an amazing job to get the car ready in time for Qualifying, I can't thank them enough. I made it very difficult for myself by missing laps across two practices, however through Qualifying things were looking okay. I drove slower on the new tyre than I did on the used at the end, so it's something we'll need to look into. The car has felt fast, but it will be pretty tough to overtake tomorrow, so I'll continue to work super hard to pull everything together for the race."

Tim Goss, Chief Technical Officer: "An excellent Qualifying session from the team under the lights of Singapore today. The car worked well right from the start of the event, and our engineers have steadily built on this platform to adapt the car balance as the track gripped up, and to understand how to get the most out of the Soft compound tyre on the first Qualifying push lap. The mechanics did a fantastic job to rebuild Liam's car in time for the start of Qualifying. Although Liam negotiated it out of Q1 reasonably comfortably, the lack of track time in the practice sessions put him at a slight disadvantage in the more competitive Q2 and he qualified 14th. Isack delivered on our first mission of the weekend and qualified in 8th ahead of all our main competitors in the Constructors Championship. It was a really close session, and had he put in the perfect lap, we felt we could have out-qualified the Ferrari's ahead of us. This ambition is a measure of how much our car and the drivers have progressed, and it gives us good confidence for the race tomorrow."

Ollie Bearman (P9): "It's nice to be back inside the top 10, it feels like a long time coming. We've had a few decent qualifying sessions that didn't quite materialize, so this one is really nice, as so far as we've put together a good weekend. Qualifying was good, I had confidence with it, and it's tight out there, so the lap I put together didn't have a lot left in it. The margins are incredibly tight, and I hope we can consolidate some points from there tomorrow."

Esteban Ocon (P19): "The car definitely had performance and the possibility to get into Q2 and Q3. It's disappointing to have these issues – one with my belt which meant I couldn't brake as it got stuck, and a yellow flag where I lost three tenths. You need to be able to nail those two laps, and we don't seem to be able to catch a break currently. We'll give it our best tomorrow to make it happen, as the car had great pace yesterday."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "It was a bit of a mixed result, but it's extremely positive to get Ollie into Q3. We know we've had speed this weekend, the car has been quick, so we knew if we put everything right, we'd get into Q3. Ollie drove very well, and it was pretty tight out there, so it's very satisfying. On Esteban's side, he's been on the pace all weekend, but we had a bit of a freak incident with his seatbelt in Q1, which destroyed his first lap. On his second lap, he was doing much better, close to Ollie's pace, so Esteban should've been through but with the yellow flag, he lost three tenths and couldn't recover. It's frustrating but the positive thing is that he's had the pace as well all weekend, just couldn't convert in qualifying. With Ollie starting from P9, we'll look to capitalize on that."

Fernando Alonso (P10): "I was happy with the lap in Q3 and it was good we made it into the top ten, but we didn't have the performance to do much more than that. We made some changes between sessions but overall, the car proved to be quite difficult to drive in FP3 and Qualifying. We are also starting on the dirty side of the grid, but we'll see what happens tomorrow and hopefully battle for the points."

Lance Stroll (P17): "Seems like one of those days where putting clean laps together felt difficult to achieve. I pushed on the second run in Qualifying and unfortunately locked up the front in sector three where I lost too much time. We will start from P17 tomorrow and see what we can do. The car has been feeling tricky to handle here all weekend so it could be a long and tough race for us."

Andy Cowell, CEO & Team Principal: "As usual a very close grid here in Singapore with eight tenths covering the top ten. Our pace has been up and down through today and the car has been unpredictable, especially in the final sector. Both Fernando and Lance were suffering there in Q1 which stopped Lance progressing into Q2.

"We will do our homework tonight and we know races here in Singapore can be very unpredictable. P10 puts us in the thick of the midfield fight and we will do what we can to try and score some points tomorrow."

Pierre Gasly (P20): "There is not much to say today as we did not manage to complete our final push lap with the stoppage on track at Turn 11. We had a suspected oil protection cut, which the team will investigate and understand. It is frustrating for all of us that we did not have the chance to finish the lap. It would have been tough to progress but probably close as it always is in Q1. It is a difficult one for all of us at the moment but we just have to push through it and move on to tomorrow. We will give it our best as we always do and see if we can give ourselves a chance in the race."

Franco Colapinto (P18): "It's obviously not the result we wanted to be out in Q1, but there are definitely some positives to take with how the car felt and how, as a team, we have been able to build the performance session by session. The car felt in a much better window, the best it has felt all weekend, and we were able to push and lean on the car more. So, in that sense we need to carry that feeling forward into the race tomorrow. I do feel we could have got more out of today and the timesheets are not necessarily reflective of the improvements we've made so far this weekend. Maybe we could have been a bit higher up on the grid with a better final run in Q1 without a couple of cars in the wrong place, which might have impacted some car performance. This is a long race and can sometimes be a race of attrition with overtaking also quite difficult, so we need to look into how we make the most from the strategy and try our best to make progress from our starting position."

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director: "Looking at the end result in Qualifying, ultimately, we knew it would be an uphill task to make it out of Q1 given our level of performance across Free Practice. There were certain factors coming into play during the session and perhaps we could have achieved better positions with both cars and make a challenge for Q2. Pierre had an oil protection cut, which effectively shut down the power unit on his final push lap and he stopped on track as a result. Franco was looking competitive and hit some traffic, which might have contributed to him not improving on his final push lap. On a track which is tough for overtaking, we are in for a challenging Sunday evening. That said, as we have seen at some events this year, anything is possible in racing and we will aim to put both cars in a competitive position."

Nico Hulkenberg (P11): “I’m quite happy with today’s qualifying. My laps were tidy and showed good progression throughout. Starting from P11 isn’t a bad place, and we’ve got an extra set of soft tyres for tomorrow. With everyone going into the race a bit less prepared after yesterday’s red flags, when nobody was really able to perform proper long runs, there might be some surprises. As always, strategy will depend on how things unfold, but we’ll be pushing hard to make the most of it.”

Gabriel Bortoleto (P16): “It’s a real shame that we could not proceed to Q2, when we had the potential to easily progress. I was on a very good lap, good enough to make it through, when I had to lift for a yellow flag [for Pierre Gasly’s stricken car]. Of course, you need to back off for safety reasons, but that costs you a few tenths straight away. Unfortunately, that meant the lap was gone, and we missed out by a very small margin. It’s disappointing, especially because we felt much better today than yesterday — FP3 was very positive, and I really believed we had the potential to do a good job in qualifying. But that’s racing; sometimes you’re the unlucky one who catches the flag.”

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: “After a very hot and humid qualifying session here in Singapore, we can take some positives from today. For Gabi, finishing P16 on his first outing at this demanding circuit — without having had a completely clean run on new tyres until qualifying — is definitely encouraging. On the other side of the garage, Nico delivered a strong and composed session with clean laps, ending just 0.065 seconds off Q3. Starting P11, with an extra set of new soft tyres, he’s in a great position to fight for points tomorrow.”