Verstappen takes Singapore sprint pole, then placed under investigation
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 9, 2026
Sprint qualifying sets front row
Max Verstappen put together the fastest lap in sprint qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, a 1m31.156s run that beat George Russell by 0.120 seconds and earned him sprint pole. The result put Verstappen on the front row for Saturday’s sprint alongside Russell and gave him a first at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. He led a qualifying session there for the first time. The lap came during a session that never settled into a steady flow. Timing and transponder issues interrupted the order, and the disruptions made it harder for drivers to find rhythm. Verstappen found the pace anyway. Russell stayed within a tight margin, but Verstappen still left the session with the top spot. The margin was small, but the outcome was clear. For a session built on fine margins, his 1m31.156s lap became the number everyone else had to chase.
Yellow-flag probe follows
The session’s other headline came after the clock stopped. Officials placed Verstappen under investigation after sprint qualifying for allegedly overtaking Lewis Hamilton under yellow flags. Hamilton reported the move over team radio right away, making the incident one of the first things the paddock heard after the session ended. Verstappen gave his side immediately on the radio and said he believed he had cleared Hamilton before reaching the yellow-flag sector. That left the matter in direct dispute. One driver said the overtake happened in a restricted area. The other said he had already moved through before the caution zone began. The investigation shifted attention away from the result and toward what happened in the final moments of the run. The same session delivered the pole and the probe, a sharp contrast that kept Verstappen at the center of the day’s final debate. The yellow-flag review made the finish less settled.
Perez crash shakes SQ1
The disruptions started earlier in SQ1 when Sergio Perez crashed at Turn 5 and triggered an early red flag. That incident forced the field to pause and reset, while timing and transponder issues added to the stop-start feel from the opening segment. Several drivers paid for that broken rhythm. Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll and Arvid Lindblad were among the first-session eliminations. Williams took its worst qualifying result of the season, with Albon 19th and Sainz 22nd. Kimi Antonelli managed seventh and was 0.693 seconds slower than Verstappen. The order showed how quickly a session can turn when a crash brings out a red flag, the timing system stutters and the lap window shrinks for everyone else.
