Verstappen secures pole for Singapore Grand Prix as Hamilton finishes second

Max Verstappen earned pole for the Singapore Grand Prix with a lap of 1:31.373, narrowly ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. The Dutch driver’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar, who suffered a gearbox failure in qualifying, will start from the rear of the field.

In Q1, several drivers ran off track, including Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll, but avoided damage. Hadjar’s car stalled after an off-track excursion, prompting him to report, > "Same issue, I lost the gears," and retire from the session.

Lewis Hamilton topped Q2 with a 1:31.529, while Verstappen complained of "insanely bad" gear shifts as he trailed by more than half a second. The Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell remained outside the top ten throughout qualifying.

During the final shootout, Verstappen set the fastest time early and could not improve, while Hamilton’s best effort was 1:31.496, leaving him third. Leclerc moved into second place, 0.054 seconds behind the pole-sitter. The top ten was completed by Antonelli, Lando Norris, Russell, Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson and Alex Lindblad.

Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies confirmed the team’s focus on resolving the gearbox issue that affected Hadjar’s qualifying run.