Lando Norris qualifies on pole for the Singapore Grand Prix as Carlos Sainz crashes in Q3

Lando Norris clinched pole for the 2024 Formula One Singapore Airline Singapore Grand Prix in yet another thrilling qualifying session under the lights.

Norris’ time of 1:29.525 was the benchmark the rest of the field tried to follow, with Max Verstappen qualifying second two-tenths of a second behind. The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Rusell will start from the second row in 3rd and 4th respectively.

Here’s how qualifying unfolded on Saturday in Singapore. 

Q1

After gloomy skies for most of the day, qualifying in Singapore started with a 0% chance of rain, with Esteban Ocon the first of the 20 drivers to hit the track. 

After the first wave of timed laps, Lando Norris set the early pace with a 1:30,724, 0.172 ahead of the Red Bull of Charles Leclerc and 0.244 ahead of his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri. 

Max Verstappen put his Red Bull up into P2 on his first timed lap to go ahead of Leclerc shortly before Leclerc improved on his second lap to retake P2 from the Dutchman. 

With heavy rain overnight between Friday and Saturday, track evolution played a big part in qualifying, with more rubber getting laid down throughout the session to increase grip levels. 

Alex Albon put his Williams briefly into P1 as he started the second round of flying laps before Norris put himself back on top of the Q1 session. 

Rookie Franco Colapinto on his way to qualify under the lights for the first time.

The session finished with Norris leading the way with a 1:30.002 ahead of Verstappen and Piastri. The Williams pair of Albon and fresh-faced Franco Colapinto with times good enough for 6th and 8th place respectively, continuing their strong showing of pace so far this weekend.

Eliminated from Q1 and having their starting positions locked in were Daniel Ricciardo (16th), Lance Stroll (17th), Pierre Gasly (18th), and the Saubers of Valterri Bottas (19th) and Zhou Guanyu (20th).

Q2

The Red Bull of Sergio Perez was the one to start the next round of timed laps. Verstappen was slightly ahead of his teammate before getting his lap time deleted for going off the track after a sketchy moment through the final corner.

Lewis Hamilton was the first man to break the 1min30s barrier to go P1 after the first wave of timed laps with Norris and Russell behind him in 2nd and 3rd. Nico Hulkenberg set a stunning lap time to put his Haas a lofty 6th with many drivers complaining about their tyres and grip levels out on the Marina Bay circuit.

Sergio Perez was knocked out in Q2 after qualifying 13th.

Predictably, Verstappen was out first to set another lap after losing his first lap time from his off-track excursion. He would then go top of the timing chart with a 1:29.680, keeping himself in the fight for pole.

Oscar Piastri would finish Q2 in P1 with a 1:29.640 ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc. Hulkenberg continued his excellent pace to end the session in 7th, well ahead of his teammate Kevin Magnussen who ended the session in 14th. 

The Dane was eliminated from qualifying at the end of Q2 along with Esteban Ocon (15th), Albon (11th), Colapinto (12th), and the real shocker of the session, Sergio Perez only managing to qualify 13th. 

Q3

RED FLAG! The session is stopped as the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz crashed in the final corner while starting his flying lap. He spun mid-corner on cold tyres while getting on the power and slid backwards into the barriers. The Spaniard crashed in the same spot where Lance Stroll had his monstrous accident in qualifying last year. 

Carlos Sainz getting out of his car after crashing at the final corner.

Once the track was cleared and the session resumed, everyone stayed in the pits for another couple of minutes before making their way out on track for just one final lap for all. As the fastest of only three drivers who completed a lap before the red flag, it’s Oscar Piastri who starts the final flurry of laps on provisional pole. 

And it’s Norris who will qualify on pole position! He finishes qualifying two-tenths ahead of anyone else with a blistering 1:29.525 lap time. Verstappen will start the race alongside him after qualifying 2nd with Hamilton starting 3rd. 

Russell qualified 4th just behind his teammate with Piastri ending the session 5th. Hulkenberg continued to impress with an outstanding 6th in the Haas. Fernando Alonso will start 7th for Aston Martin ahead of Tsunoda’s VCARB in 8th.

Leclerc will start only 9th after having his lap time deleted for track limits with his teammate Carlos Sainz starting 10th after crashing at the start of Q3. 

Stay tuned for what’s sure to be an incredible Singapore Grand Prix at 8pm local time on Sunday, 22 September. 

The star of qualifying, Nico Hulkenberg, will start 6th for tomorrow's race.

All photos courtesy of Singapore GP Pte Ltd.

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