• Categories
    • Accessories
      • Exterior Accessories
      • Interior Accessories
    • Cleaning & Detailing
    • Electronics
      • Audio
    • Engine & Performance
    • Home Care
    • Motorbikes & Bikes
    • Off-road Vehicles
    • RV Campers
    • Tires & Wheels
    • Tools
  • About Us
GrandPrixTimes
  • Categories
    • Accessories
      • Exterior Accessories
      • Interior Accessories
    • Cleaning & Detailing
    • Electronics
      • Audio
    • Engine & Performance
    • Home Care
    • Motorbikes & Bikes
    • Off-road Vehicles
    • RV Campers
    • Tires & Wheels
    • Tools
  • About Us
  • News

Singapore GP Qualifying: Charles Leclerc storms to pole as Verstappen finishes eighth

  • October 2, 2022
  • Salman Javaid
Charles Leclerc(centre) qualified on pole ahead of Perez(left) and Hamilton(right)

Charles Leclerc storms to the pole of the Singapore Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, with the top 3 drivers separated by just 0.054s. The heavy downpour before Saturday’s events meant that the drivers ran the Q1 and Q2 sessions on intermediate tires. It wasn’t until Q3 when slicks proved to be the better option, and there was a dash by everyone in the session’s final minutes to try and put together a quick lap.

While Leclerc managed to beat everyone else, Max Verstappen looked poised to snatch pole position from him in his final run, only to be surprisingly called into the bits before he completed his timed lap. The decision caused Verstappen to direct expletive words toward the pits as he wasn’t aware of the reasons at the time why he was asked to abort his run. He would start the race in the 8th position.

Carlos Sainz finished P4 ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris. The latter surprisingly placed his car higher on the grid on Sunday as McLaren looked woefully off the pace in the practice sessions. Pierre Gasly qualified 7th and his Alpha Tauri teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, qualified 10th completing a successful session for the team. Kevin Magnussen again had a strong outing for Haas, qualifying P9.

Table of Contents

  • Out in Q1
  • Out in Q2
  • What caused Verstappen to abort his pole lap?
  • Qualifying Classification
  • Q2 Eliminations
  • Q1 Eliminations

Out in Q1

The session started with teams putting on intermediate tires as the track still had several wet patches. Williams’s drivers were the standard setters of slowest lap times. Alex Albon and Nicolas Latifi qualified for P19 and P20, respectively. Daniel Ricciardo and Estaban Ocon were the surprise exits in Q1. Ocon complained throughout the session that his brakes weren’t functioning correctly, and as a result, he couldn’t string together a clean lap. He finished behind Ricciardo, whose run of terrible form for McLaren continues. Valtteri Bottas was the last driver who missed Q2.

Out in Q2

Most of the Q2 session was again run on intermediate tires, but some drivers chanced a shot into Q3 using slick tires in the final minutes of Q2. This move, however, proved unsuccessful at the moment, and none of the drivers improved on their intermediate times. George Russell was the surprise exit in this session, qualifying 11th on the grid. The Mercedes driver later revealed that brake issues hampered him and consequently couldn’t improve his times in the later stages of the session. 

Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel qualified P12 and P14, respectively, as Aston Martin’s gamble to let them run on slick tires failed to materialize any potential gains for its drivers. Mick Schumacher qualified P13. Zhou Guanyu posted the slowest time in Q2 and finished P15.

What caused Verstappen to abort his pole lap?

In the final minutes of qualifying, Verstappen placed his car nicely behind everyone else to run his pole lap on the rubber-laid track. He posted purple sector times, and just as he was coming round the second to last corner, his team ordered him to immediately abort his run and box. Verstappen, livid with the decision, asked for reasons to come into the pits, which weren’t given at the time.

Later Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, gave an interview to the press where he said that the reason to call Verstappen in was due to the team’s miscalculations when filling his car with fuel. The Dutch driver had enough fuel on board to complete his lap and return to the pits, but there wouldn’t be enough left in the tank for stewards to investigate.

Every driver must provide the FIA investigation team with 1 liter of fuel sample after the end of the session, and Verstappen completed his qualifying run and the in-lap. He wouldn’t have much left in the tank for the stewards to use for their checks. That would have resulted in a penalty for Verstappen, and the stewards would have demoted him to the lower part of the grid for the Sunday race, a risk that Red Bull didn’t want to take.

Verstappen’s quest to wrap the driver’s title race on Sunday took a severe dent as overtaking in Singapore is complex, and a win for Verstappen would prove to be a tall order. Also, his two direct title rivals, Leclerc and Perez, qualified at the front of the grid, which means there is a good chance that the fight for the world’s driver championship title will be decided in the next race in Japan instead of Singapore.

Qualifying Classification

1. Charles Leclerc
2. Sergio Perez
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Carlos Sainz
5. Fernando Alonso
6. Lando Norris
7. Pierre Gasly
8. Max Verstappen
9. Kevin Magnussen
10. Yuki Tsunoda
Ferrari
Red Bull
Mercedes
Ferrari
Alpine
McLaren
Alpha Tauri
Red Bull
Haas
Alpha Tauri
1:49.412
+0.022
+0.054
+0.171
+0.554
+1.172
+1.799
+1.983
+2.161
+2.571

Q2 Eliminations

11. George Russell
12. Lance Stroll
13. Mick Schumacher
14. Sebastian Vettel
15. Zhou Guanyu
Mercedes
Aston Martin
Haas
Aston Martin
Alfa Romeo
1:54.012
1:54.211
1:54.370
1:54.380
1:54.518

Q1 Eliminations

16. Valtteri Bottas
17. Daniel Ricciardo
18. Estaban Ocon
19. Alex Albon
20. Nicolas Latifi
Alfa Romeo
McLaren
Alpine
Williams
Williams
1:56.083
1:56.226
1:56.337
1:56.985
1:57.532
Salman Javaid
Salman Javaid

Having been a fan of Formula 1 since Mika Hakkinen drove for McLaren, Salman has turned his passion from watching the sport and commenting about all the events to sharing that experience with like-minded F1 fans. Still waiting for McLaren team and drivers to win a title since 2008.

You May Also Like
View Post
  • News

Daniel Ricciardo returns to Red Bull as a third driver

  • Alexander Iliev
  • November 24, 2022
View Post
  • News

Post-season test: Ferrari drivers take over the top three

  • Alexander Iliev
  • November 23, 2022
View Post
  • News

Logan Sargeant confirmed as a 2023 Williams F1 driver

  • Alexander Iliev
  • November 21, 2022
View Post
  • News

Abu Dhabi GP: Max Verstappen Finishes the 2022 season with another win

  • Salman Javaid
  • November 21, 2022
View Post
  • News

Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen gets the final Pole position for the 2022 F1 season

  • Salman Javaid
  • November 20, 2022
View Post
  • News

Abu Dhabi GP FP3: Sergio Perez fastest in the final practice of the season, Lewis Hamilton escapes Penalty

  • Salman Javaid
  • November 19, 2022
View Post
  • News

Abu Dhabi GP FP2: Max Verstappen goes fastest under the lights

  • Salman Javaid
  • November 19, 2022
View Post
  • News

Abu Dhabi GP FP1: Hamilton is on top with Russel a close second

  • Alexander Iliev
  • November 19, 2022
GrandPrixTimes
  • About
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
Grand Prix Times

Input your search keywords and press Enter.