Charles Leclerc takes pole in Singapore as Max Verstappen fumes

SPORTSAREENA.comOctober 7, 2022

46 3 minutes read

Charles Leclerc took pole place on Saturday for the Singapore Grand Prix, however Formula One world championship chief Max Verstappen was left fuming after ending solely eighth quickest.

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Leclerc clocked 1:9.412 in his Ferrari in damp situations to prime the timesheets 0.022 seconds forward of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton third.

Verstappen, who has a mathematical probability to retain his world title this weekend in Singapore, had regarded set to problem Leclerc’s time on his remaining flying lap earlier than being informed to desert by his Red Bull staff.

The Dutchman, who had set the quickest first sector, then let fly an expletive-peppered tirade over staff radio after being instructed to abort and return to the pits as a result of he was low on gasoline.

“We ran out of fuel, so it’s just incredibly frustrating and shouldn’t happen,” Verstappen informed Sky Sports F1.

Only the top-10 shootout for pole passed off on slick tyres beneath the lights of the Marina Bay circuit after heavy rain earlier.

‘Very, very tricky qualifying’

Most of qualifying noticed vehicles on intermediate tyres on a observe too damp to threat slicks, with the unforgiving concrete partitions of the road format an ever-present hazard for any lack of management.

“It’s been a very, very tricky qualifying,” mentioned Leclerc.

“In Q3 we didn’t know what to do, we went for the soft at the last minute and it paid off. I made a mistake on my last lap so I didn’t think I’d get pole, but it was just enough.”

Monaco’s Leclerc can forestall Verstappen from sealing the championship this weekend by ending increased than eighth in Sunday’s race.

Leclerc now has a commanding grid benefit over the Dutchman, who will begin from the fourth row on a circuit that provides few overtaking alternatives.

Perez may assist his Red Bull team-mate by getting forward of Leclerc in the beginning.

“It’s a good opportunity to attack Charles and go for the win,” mentioned the Mexican.

“I was disappointed to miss out on pole by two hundredths. It was so tricky to learn the conditions today and tomorrow could be wet.”

Seven-time world champion Hamilton produced his greatest qualifying efficiency of the season, ending in the highest three for the primary time, solely 0.054 behind Leclerc.

‘We’ll battle tomorrow’ – Lewis Hamilton

“I was pushing so hard, it was so, so close,” mentioned Hamilton.

“These guys are so fast, however I believed with an ideal lap we may battle for first place, however I simply didn’t have the grip in the final lap.

“We’ll get up and fight again tomorrow.”

Verstappen must win the race, rating 22 factors greater than Leclerc and see team-mate Perez end fourth or decrease to retain his world title with 5 races to spare, or the chase strikes on to Japan subsequent week.

But he has to discover a well beyond seven drivers to try this, which seems to be extraordinarily unlikely.

Ahead of him are Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso – who was fifth quickest in the Alpine forward of his 350th GP begin – and the McLaren of Lando Norris in sixth.

Lining up alongside Verstappen on the fourth row can be Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri.

It wasn’t all excellent news for Mercedes. George Russell failed to search out any grip on his intermediate tyres and had a shock failure to make it into Q3 after being solely eleventh quickest.

Alex Albon, who did nicely simply to make it to Singapore three weeks after appendicitis on the Italian Grand Prix after which struggling issues from surgical procedure, was nineteenth in his Williams.