Singapore GP 2025
OCTOBER 4, 2025
Qualifying Report - Russell takes Singapore pole
© Mercedes
George Russell secured a commanding pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, producing two laps fast enough for the top spot as Max Verstappen failed to improve on his final attempt in a tight qualifying session at Marina Bay.
The Mercedes driver set the pace early in Q3 with a 1m29.165s, brushing the wall at Turn 17 but still finding nearly four tenths compared to his earlier Q2 effort. That lap proved immediately out of reach for the rest of the field, Verstappen coming closest with a 1m29.340s but still 0.182s adrift. Russell then marginally improved with a 1m29.158s on his second flyer, ensuring pole regardless of Verstappen’s abandoned last run, which was disrupted by a slow-moving Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri completed the top three for McLaren, 0.366s off Russell’s benchmark with a 1m29.524s, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli lined up fourth after recovering from a deleted lap in Q2. Norris settled for fifth, his best lap of 1m29.586s leaving him just behind his team-mate on the grid.
Ferrari locked out the third row, Lewis Hamilton taking sixth in 1m29.688s ahead of Charles Leclerc’s 1m29.784s. Both drivers flirted with the walls in their final runs, Leclerc in particular recovering from a brush at Turn 14 during Q2 that nearly cost him a place in the top-10 shootout.
Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar continued his impressive form with eighth, lapping in 1m29.846s, ahead of Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who recorded 1m29.868s for ninth. Fernando Alonso ensured Aston Martin’s presence in Q3, rounding out the top ten with 1m29.955s.
Nico Hulkenberg narrowly missed out, his Haas pushed to 11th after Leclerc’s late escape in Q2. Alex Albon followed in 12th for Williams, while Carlos Sainz could only manage 13th after struggling for grip. Liam Lawson recovered from two practice crashes to place 14th, and Yuki Tsunoda ended 15th after a difficult evening in his Red Bull.
Q1 had already claimed Pierre Gasly, whose Alpine stopped with suspected hydraulics failure at Turn 11. That stranded him at the back of the grid in 20th. Franco Colapinto beat Gasly for 19th, while Esteban Ocon was 18th. Lance Stroll exited early in 17th, alongside Gabriel Bortoleto in 16th, marking the Brazilian’s first Q1 elimination since Silverstone.
Russell’s effort marks Mercedes’ first pole at Marina Bay since 2018, and with Verstappen alongside on the front row, Sunday’s race promises another strategic battle on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.