F1 Gp Singapore, Norris on pole and Ferrari disaster

Lando Norris takes pole position with McLaren on the street circuit of the Singapore GP scheduled for tomorrow, Ferrari sinks in qualifying: Charles Leclerc ninth, Carlos Sainz ends up against the wall and is never in the running in the third heat of official practice.

The British McLaren driver set the fastest time of 1:29.525, placing him ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, second on the grid with a lap of 1:29.525. Third was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, followed by teammate George Russell for a second row filled entirely by the Silver Arrows.

In the third row, fifth the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri who places himself ahead of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda with the Racing Bulls. Only fifth row for the two Ferraris. Charles Leclerc closes in ninth position and will be joined by Sainz: the Spaniard ends up against the wall, his Q3 ends immediately.

“When I came out of the pits, my tyre temperature was too low, I did my best to fix the situation but from the lock-up in turn one, it was a disaster”, says Leclerc, who saw his best time, which would have been worth fifth place, cancelled for not respecting the track limit at a point on the circuit: “The cancelled time? The tyres weren’t ready, we came out of the pits with the wrong temperature on the front. I tried to do my best to get them up to temperature, but I couldn’t do more. They weren’t even 50% ready”, he repeats. “The race? I’m disappointed and I prefer not to talk about tomorrow. Qualifying here is everything, the hopes of winning tomorrow are few”.