Verstappen grabs Singapore sprint pole from Russell — but stewards await over yellow-flag overtake
Max Verstappen swept to pole position for Saturday's sprint at the Singapore Grand Prix, beating Mercedes' George Russell by 0.120 seconds in a busy session under the lights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit — but the Red Bull driver's pole is not yet secure, with the stewards set to examine a potential yellow-flag infringement.
Verstappen, fresh from his and Red Bull's first victory of the 2026 season in Malaysia last weekend, timed his final lap to perfection on the soft tyres to post a 1m 31.156s. Russell had no answer, ending the session 0.120s adrift, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc a further tenth back in third. With four teams seemingly in the mix after a single hour of free practice, the Dutchman's late flourish proved decisive — and underlined Red Bull's resurgence since his dominant win at Sepang.
Pole under investigation
The result will not be confirmed until Verstappen has visited the stewards, having been reported for overtaking under yellow flags in the first qualifying segment, before the session was stopped for Sergio Perez's crash. It is the latest twist in a weekend already full of them for the Dutchman, who is yet to win a race in Singapore — Saturday's 21-lap sprint offers the first chance to start putting that right.
McLarens best of the rest as Hamilton slips to sixth
McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took fourth and fifth, with Piastri finishing just 0.055s adrift of Leclerc's time. Lewis Hamilton was sixth in the second Ferrari after rolling the dice on an early run in the final segment: the Briton initially sat second behind Leclerc, only to tumble down the order as the track improved for those running later.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli could manage only seventh in the Mercedes, 0.573s slower than team-mate Russell, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson took eighth. Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 for Red Bull and Alpine respectively, though both had lap times deleted in the final part of qualifying.
Perez crash triggers early red flag
The first stoppage came in the opening minutes, when Sergio Perez's Cadillac found the barrier — the incident that brought out the yellow flags now central to Verstappen's date with the stewards. Perez will start the 21-lap sprint from the back row alongside Williams' Carlos Sainz.
Russell rapid again despite looming penalty
It capped a strong Friday for Russell, who earlier in the day topped the sole free practice session at Marina Bay ahead of Leclerc and Norris. The Briton arrives in Singapore having won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the end of September, holding off Verstappen for a first victory since Austria, but is set to start Sunday's Grand Prix from the back of the grid because of a penalty — and has promised "all-out attack" this weekend as a result.
The rest of the order
Alpine's Franco Colapinto was edged out of the top 10 in 11th by a late improvement from Russell, with Audi's Nico Hulkenberg 12th. Ollie Bearman led the next quartet in 13th for Haas, ahead of Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Haas' Esteban Ocon.
Arvid Lindblad narrowly missed out on a spot in the second segment and settled for 17th, just ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll — a solid return for a driver who had hinted he would approach this weekend cautiously after crashing at other street circuits. The pair enjoyed a margin of half a second over the Williams and Cadillac runners, where Alex Albon led the backmarkers in 19th with Valtteri Bottas just behind.
The sprint, over 21 laps, takes place on Saturday at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app.