The qualifying session for the Singapore Grand Prix got under way at the Marina Bay Street Circuit with all teams on track, as they were aware that more rain was a possibility, so they wanted to get out there and set a lap time as soon as possible.
Every car out on track in the first part of Q1 was using intermediate tyres. There were still damp patches on the track, with the humidity in Singapore slowing down the drying process and it was interesting to see how much the track dries during the session. The Ferrari and Red Bull car entered the action, and it was Charles Leclerc who was fastest to begin with, while his team-mate Carlos Sainz came in behind him in second. Max Verstappen didn’t attack his first lap and was only 13th. This track is known to be challenging and Charles Leclerc was the first to have a near incident in this Qualifying session: he lost a bit of control and used a slip road to avert any more danger.
Max Verstappen then set a representative lap time, which briefly took him into first ahead of Lewis Hamilton. However, on this rapidly improving track, Charles Leclerc retook top spot. The question was is whether any driver would risk putting on slicks. Haas and Mick Schumacher got their timing right, having him as the last car to start a flying lap. That paid off as he was able to climb to 14th with his final lap, relegating Valtteri Bottas into the drop zone. Lando Norris narrowly made it through to Q2 in 15th, avoiding what would have been a disastrous double-exit for McLaren: Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Alex Albon (Williams) and Nicholas Latifi (Williams) were out in Q1.
The action was back under way, with intermediates still the order of the day. The only cars not to join the track immediately were the Red Bulls.
“It is drying up quickly,” Charles Leclerc told the Ferrari garage as all cars still continued with the intermediate tyres in the start of Q2. The first runs in Q2 saw the Monegasque driver at the top of the timesheet with a 1:52.343. That put him four tenths clear of Max Verstappen, with the other Red Bull or Sergio Perez third. Carlos Sainz slots into to fourth to leave Lewis Hamilton down in fifth. It was not a great first run for the other Mercedes of George Russell, who was down in 13th.
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Whilst the track was 75% dry, there were still wet patches which makes the move “risky” as Charles Leclerc tells the Ferrari garage. George Russell was the big victim as several cars jumped up the leaderboard in the closing stages. That will be a huge disappointment for him and Mercedes, especially with Lewis Hamilton up in second. Sebastian Vettel was one of those who went to slicks, and the gamble didn’t pay off. He went off track during his final flying lap, and ended up down in 14th. That’s not the first time Aston Martin have made a questionable call in qualifying this season.
Q3 was under way, and we had eight out of 10 cars on slick tyres: only Yuki Tsuonda and Kevin Magnussen were on intermediates, which meant all of the pole contenders were on slicks. It looked that, despite sending Carlos Sainz on slicks, the Ferrari garage were going to send Charles Leclerc back out for Q3 on intermediates. However, the Monegasque was on the radio in the garage to override the call, saying “No, put me on slicks, put me on slicks.”
Lewis Hamilton was the early front-runner in Q3: the Mercedes driver went a whopping two seconds faster than Yuki Tsuonda, who was second on intermediates. With the track improving all the time, we saw Fernando Alonso go fastest, then Charles Leclerc, before Lewis Hamilton retook top spot. Max Verstappen came through, after a couple of big wobbles, in second.
It looked as though all the front-runners decided it was not worth stopping for fresh tyres at this point. Charles Leclerc went fastest, with Fernando Alonso second. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were still on their flying laps, but were not able to match Charles’ best lap time! Max Verstappen aborts his final flying lap, and that means Charles Leclerc takes pole position for the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix! Carlos Sainz will start
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