Verstappen Takes 50th Career Pole in Singapore

Max Verstappen took his 50th career pole position in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday, beating Charles Leclerc by 0.054 seconds at Marina Bay Street Circuit. The Red Bull driver set a fastest time of 1 minute 31.373 seconds in Q3. Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, qualified second, with teammate Lewis Hamilton third, 0.123 seconds behind Verstappen. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was fourth, and McLaren’s Lando Norris fifth. Verstappen’s pole followed his victory in the sprint race earlier Saturday. He said the car had been strong throughout the weekend and that he was pleased to secure the pole he wanted. A gearbox issue affected him in Q2, according to his comments after qualifying, but he still set the leading time. Leclerc said he had struggled with braking in Q1 and Q2 and made mistakes in his final Q3 lap. He said he believed pole had been possible, while crediting Verstappen with doing a better job. Hamilton, who had been quickest in Q1 and Q2, said the car was difficult to keep within its narrow performance range in Q3 and that he experienced handling snaps on both flying laps.