Verstappen beat Russell for Singapore sprint pole
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 9, 2026
Verstappen took pole
Max Verstappen put himself on top of the Singapore sprint grid with a 1:31.156 lap, edging George Russell by 0.120 seconds and delivering his first qualifying-session win of any kind at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The lap mattered because it came in a session that left little margin for error and tightened the fight at the front. Verstappen made the one lap count and did enough to hold off the Mercedes driver after a close run through the final order. The result put Verstappen in prime position heading into the short race weekend at one of Formula 1’s most demanding street circuits. It also added a new mark to his record at Marina Bay, where he had never before won a qualifying session in any format. That is the sort of detail that matters on a track where track position carries real weight and passing takes patience. The top spot came after a session that shuffled the field behind him. Russell settled for second for Mercedes, Charles Leclerc took third for Ferrari and Oscar Piastri lined up fourth for McLaren. Lando Norris claimed fifth for McLaren, giving the team two cars inside the top five and another strong base for the sprint. The first five told the story at the sharp end, with Verstappen clear at the front and several familiar names close behind him, all separated by the fine edges that usually decide Singapore qualifying.
Mercedes split cars
Mercedes arrived with a split approach on car specification, with Russell in the older-spec car and Kimi Antonelli in the upgraded W17. Russell used that package to secure second place, just behind Verstappen and ahead of a packed group that kept the times tight through the top half of the order. Antonelli finished seventh, which kept both Mercedes cars inside the top seven and gave the team a solid return from the session even with the mixed specifications. Hamilton took sixth after he struggled for rear grip on his final soft-tire lap, a detail that mattered because the last run often reshapes the front of the grid in sprint qualifying. His place in the order kept him just behind Norris and just ahead of Antonelli, with the gaps across that stretch small enough to punish any mistake. Leclerc’s third-place effort kept Ferrari in the mix near the front, while Piastri and Norris gave McLaren a pair of results that matched the team’s pace across the session. The opening six positions offered a clear picture of the competitive balance. Verstappen led the way. Russell stood closest to him. Leclerc and the McLaren pair packed in behind. Hamilton’s sixth-place run showed enough speed to stay in that battle even with the grip issue on his final lap. Antonelli then rounded out the Mercedes contribution in the top seven. In a sprint-format session, that group set the tone for the race to come, because the field had little time to recover once the order settled.
Perez sparked chaos
Sergio Perez added the first real interruption of the session when he hit the wall and caused the SQ1 red flag. That brought an early halt to the action and changed the rhythm for the rest of the field, because every pause in Singapore carries weight in a short, high-pressure qualifying format. The red flag mattered even after the session restarted, since the opening phase had already been broken up and the margins at the bottom of the field narrowed further. Verstappen also spent time under investigation for an alleged yellow-flag infringement after overtaking Hamilton in SQ1, adding another layer to a session that never settled into a simple flow. The final running behind the top eight produced a few late changes as track limits and classification came into play. Isack Hadjar was classified ninth after a track-limits deletion, which pushed him just outside the top eight after the stewards’ adjustment. Pierre Gasly completed the top 10, giving the order a clean finish after the disruptions above him. Those late positions rounded out a session that mixed front-running speed with stop-start tension at the bottom. Perez’s wall contact set the tone for the early stages. Verstappen’s pace set the standard at the front. The rest of the field had to manage both the circuit and the interruptions, and the final classification showed how little room there was for recovery once a red flag or a track-limits call entered the picture.
