Written by Owen Bradley
Provisional Qualifying Results for the Singapore Grand Prix 2023
Credit: Mark Thompson
Full Qualifying Results:
1st Carlos Sainz - Ferrari - 1:30.984
2nd George Russell - Mercedes - 1:31.056
3rd Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - 1:31.063
4th Lando Norris - McLaren - 1:31.270
5th Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1:31.485
6th Kevin Magnussen - Haas - 1:31.575
7th Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin - 1:31.615
8th Esteban Ocon - Alpine - 1:31.673
9th Nico Hulkenberg - Haas - 1:31.808
10th Liam Lawson - Alphatauri - 1:32.268
11th Max Verstappen - Red Bull - 1:32.173
12th Pierre Gasly - Alpine - 1:32.274
13th Sergio Perez - Red Bull - 1:32.310
14th Alex Albon - Williams - 1:33.719
15th Yuki Tsunoda - Alphatauri - Q2 NO TIME SET
16th Valtteri Bottas - Alfa Romeo - 1:32.809
17th Oscar Piastri - McLaren - 1:32.902
18th Logan Sargeant - Williams - 1:33.252
19th Zhou Guanyu - Alfa Romeo - 1:33.258
20th Lance Stroll - Aston Martin - 1:33.397
Qualifying 1
A slow-burning session where the track evolved a huge amount and resulted in most of the cars all in danger of being knocked out, despite setting a banker lap beforehand. Setting up the final runs, Max Verstappen stopped in the pitlane, despite the pit light being green. This bunched up a number of cars, including both Mercedes' cars and also Charles Leclerc. The Stewards will be investigating later in the day, but commentators speculated there may have been an issue for Verstappen.
As the drivers went on their out lap, they all bunched up again fighting for the ideal track position on and around the penultimate corner. This certainly posed a safety concern as you had cars moving at full speed trying to navigate their way through about eight cars all moving very slowly. Lance Stroll would then bring out an early end to Q1 after a monumental accident on the final corner, running slightly wide and onto the kerb which sent him into a spin, crashing into the outside barrier and then spearing back across the track.
Credit: Mark Thompson
Qualifying 2
Mercedes continue to build on their solid performance, as Red Bull seem to struggle greatly to find any sort of front-end grip, going into the final run, Verstappen and Sergio Perez were 10th and 11th, separated by 0.003s of a second. And going into their final run, Perez had a spin going into Turn 3, which ruined his run, he starts in P13 for the Grand Prix. But the big surprise, was that Max Verstappen was knocked out of Qualifying 2 by Alphatauri driver, Liam Lawson by just 0.007s of a second. The margin was incredibly tight and both Red Bull drivers have not been comfortable all weekend, sliding around and not having much front-end grip at all, the aerodynamics seem unsettled. The big story, Red Bull will both be legitimately starting from outside the Top 10. Verstappen was so frustrated, he didn't even wait for the team to roll the car back into the pit garage, as he climbed out of it whilst it was being rolled back in, clear frustration for the Double Champion.
Credit: Mark Thompson
Qualifying 3
Early banker laps suggested that Ferrari would be the most dominant in Q3 and the favourites for the front row, but it ended up with Carlos Sainz setting an exceptional lap to make it two pole positions in a row, with George Russell just 0.072s of a second behind him, in P2. Charles Leclerc had made a small error in Sector 3 which cost him a front row position, as he starts from P3 only 0.079s of a second down on his teammate, with Lando Norris a couple of tenths adrift in P4, and Lewis Hamilton in P5.
Qualifying Report
With Red Bull struggling for pace and the car looking exceptionally difficult to drive, sliding around and not having much front-end grip, at a street circuit this type of car is very difficult to drive and can be tough to try and keep out of the barriers, as the tyres degrade and you have even less grip later in the race. Red Bull starting from outside the Top 10 is going to provide a tough race for the dominant team. It seems like it will be all to play for tomorrow, with Ferrari seemingly the quickest, but the Mercedes drivers not too far behind either. Wet weather looms large tomorrow, so there could potentially be a damp circuit to drive on which could provide chaos in the opening laps.
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