Ferrari sporting director Diego Ioverno believes the Scuderia had every reason to be satisfied after coming within just 0.054 seconds of pole position in Singapore, while also arguing that Max Verstappen could justifiably have received a grid penalty for his yellow-flag incident the previous day.
The SF-26 has yet to secure a pole position, but Ferrari had never come closer than it did at Marina Bay. Charles Leclerc finished only 54 milliseconds behind Max Verstappen, while both red cars lined up immediately behind the four-time world champion, presenting a very different picture from the previous day.
Diego Ioverno spoke to the media in place of team principal Fred Vasseur and joked about why the sporting director had been given the microphone on this occasion.
“When things go badly, Fred speaks. When things go better, since we are a team, we take turns.”
He nevertheless stressed that Ferrari would gladly have taken pole position, while describing the overall qualifying result as a strong performance.
“Obviously pole position would have been more than welcome, but today was a good performance.”
Ferrari explains its 0.054-second Singapore pole deficit
Conditions complicated the session considerably following the morning rain, with the Marina Bay track changing significantly as qualifying progressed. That evolution made tyre management and execution especially difficult around a circuit where confidence and precision are vital.
“It was definitely a very difficult qualifying session, particularly in terms of management, because the track changed a lot after this morning’s rain. In the end, we lost out by 54 milliseconds.”
Asked where Ferrari had lost those decisive hundredths, Diego Ioverno turned the question around by highlighting the quality of Max Verstappen’s lap.
“The real question is where Max found them, because the Dutchman gave everything, especially on his first Q3 attempt, when he produced a beautiful lap. Both Charles and Lewis pushed throughout the session. Charles also managed to improve on his second Q3 attempt, while Max didn’t, but five hundredths is nothing.”
According to the Ferrari sporting director, a small amount of time was available around Turn 16 and perhaps at a couple of other corners. However, he was unwilling to criticise either Ferrari driver after such a competitive session.
“A little bit at Turn 16 and perhaps there were a couple of corners where we could have done better, but I would say we cannot complain about the performance of our two drivers. Obviously pole position would have been more than welcome, but today was a good performance.”
The tiny margins separating the leading drivers can be examined further through the F1 Qualifying Pace & Sector Comparison, which breaks down valid qualifying laps, individual sector performance and Q1-Q2-Q3 progression.
Lewis Hamilton’s best sectors would have been enough for pole
Ferrari was particularly strong through the middle sector, while Lewis Hamilton produced what was described as his strongest performance of the season. If his three best sector times had been combined into a single lap, the British driver would have been on pole position.
The question for Ferrari was therefore why Lewis Hamilton could not put everything together on his final Q3 run, especially after also encountering difficulties the previous day while searching for the final fraction of lap time.
Diego Ioverno explained that fighting a driver as adaptable as Max Verstappen requires taking risks when pushing for the final hundredths.
“If you don’t try to find the final hundredth, rather than the final tenth, when you are up against a very versatile Max Verstappen like today, you cannot take pole. So it is natural that you try.”
The sporting director felt Lewis Hamilton had clearly been operating at an extremely high level throughout qualifying, just as Charles Leclerc had been. However, the seven-time world champion made small mistakes during both of his Q3 attempts.
“Lewis was clearly in great form, with extremely high performance throughout the session, just like Charles. He tried, but he had a few small mistakes in some corners, both on the first and the second attempt. Unfortunately, when you search for the limit, sometimes you go a little beyond it, and if you don’t find your limit, the others are ahead. There is nothing mysterious about it.”
The comparison between the two Ferrari drivers across the season can also be followed through the Charles Leclerc vs Lewis Hamilton F1 head-to-head statistics.
Ferrari questions Max Verstappen yellow-flag decision
Attention then turned back to the previous day and Max Verstappen’s overtake under yellow flags. The discussion centred on whether the stewards have become more permissive in their interpretation of incidents and whether the decision could establish an important precedent.
Diego Ioverno explained that Formula 1 had discussed during the winter a general desire to allow drivers greater freedom to race. According to the Ferrari sporting director, the drivers themselves had been among the strongest supporters of that approach, and he pointed out that none of the Sprint incidents had ultimately resulted in penalties.
“From this year, and this was discussed during the winter break, there has been a general desire to let them race more. The drivers were the first to want that. I don’t know if you noticed, but in the end none of the incidents in the Sprint race were punished with penalties.”
However, he made a distinction between racing incidents and yellow or red flags, where the regulations traditionally leave much less room for tolerance.
“Yesterday’s qualifying case was a little different: there is no tolerance with yellow flags, just as there is no tolerance with red flags, although there can be cases that are right on the limit.”
Diego Ioverno described Max Verstappen’s situation as genuinely borderline. From Ferrari’s perspective, he admitted that he would have voted in favour of a penalty, while also acknowledging why Red Bull would not have been particularly surprised or relieved to escape punishment given previous interpretations.
“The incident was genuinely on the limit. To tell the truth, being on the other side of the fence, I would have voted for a penalty, but if I had been in Max’s position and his team’s position, I would not have been devastated not to receive one. We have seen other cases where, even with a red flag shown, if a car had momentum it was accepted that it could pass a much slower rival.”
He ultimately felt that the decision not to impose any penalty was debatable. While he would probably not have applied the full five-place sanction foreseen for overtaking under yellow flags, he believed a three-place grid penalty could have been justified.
“Yesterday’s decision is debatable. I probably would not have given the five places provided for in the rules for overtaking under yellow flags, but three could have been appropriate. Taking no action seemed borderline to me, but that is what the referee decided. We will keep it in mind if we find ourselves in a similar situation in the future.”
Why Fred Vasseur did not speak after qualifying
Finally, Diego Ioverno addressed the unusual fact that Fred Vasseur had not handled Ferrari’s media duties as he normally does. His explanation was delivered with humour and reflected the improved mood after the Scuderia’s P2-P3 qualifying result.
“When things go badly, Fred speaks. When things aren’t going too badly, since we are a team, we all get a little opportunity to have a chat with the press.”
After coming within 54 milliseconds of pole and placing both cars directly behind Max Verstappen, Ferrari therefore leaves qualifying with renewed confidence heading into the remainder of the 2026 Singapore Grand Prix weekend. The demanding characteristics of Marina Bay and the areas where the SF-26 must balance traction with outright speed are also detailed in the Marina Bay circuit analysis.
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