Singapore GP: Unbeaten Saint took pole position in Singapore, shocking exclusion of Verstappen from the top ten

In the qualifying tests for the Singapore GP – this year’s 15th round of Formula 1 – exclusion from the top ten was reserved on equal terms for the two cars that have won all 14 GPs this year, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez . for the second time in a row, many positions for Carlos Sainz and Ferrari and a serious crash for Lance Stroll, from which the Canadian emerged unscathed.

Today Saint once again demonstrated the excellent form he had been in over the two days in the Ferrari SF-23, outpacing the equally efficient George Russell of Mercedes and his Ferrari colleague Charles Leclerc by 72 and 79 mm respectively.

Meanwhile, Verstappen and Perez struggled with the rear grip of the revised Red Bull RB19 on all three days, and at the end of the second period they were unable to improve their times to move into the top ten. It was the first deviation from perfection for this year’s F1 season’s absolutely dominant team.

The first qualifying was marked by Lance Stroll’s accident. Canada’s AMR23 was destabilized by a jump exiting the penultimate corner and Stroll lost control of her rear in the finale. He locked the car in reverse to try to fix the problem, but it wasn’t enough and he crashed hard into the outside guardrail.

The Canadian then went to the circuit’s medical center for tests, where it was crucial that he took his hands off the steering wheel a split second before the impact, which, given the force of the impact of the wheels, could have resulted in a corresponding hand injury with his Daniel Ricciardo in Zandvoort.

The Aston driver is expected to start tomorrow’s race as the track’s medical center confirmed he has not suffered any injuries. Behind him at the time of the accident was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who cleverly avoided the wreckage of the Aston, but thereby lost his chance of qualifying for Q2.

Along with them, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Guanyin Chow and Williams’ Logan Sargeant also retired. Yuki Tsunoda wrote the first year in Q1 in the extensively revised Alpha Tauri AT04, as most drivers did not improve their times due to Stroll’s accident.

After a lengthy delay in clearing debris and repairing barriers, Q2 saw the big surprise of the year: Max Verstappen finished 10th on his first fast lap and Sergio Perez 11th.

The Dutchman visibly slipped on his second attempt, lost a lot of time and was unable to improve on his first performance. So he hoped no one else would go faster – but then Alpha Tauri rookie Liam Lawson came along with a stunning lap to move into the top ten and eliminate the champion.

Perez, meanwhile, had a foursome on his second lap that doomed him to fall out of the top ten. This completed the exclusion of both cars from the team, which won all 14 Formula 1 GPs this season, from the top ten. Along with them, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda were also excluded from Q2.

On the first lap of the third quarter, Carlos Sainz shone when his first time was two and a half tenths faster than Leclerc in the Ferrari one-two and four tenths faster than Norris in third – while Russell was six tenths behind.

With the fresh soft rubber in all cars, the front runners improved their times, but neither Norris nor Leclerc and Russell managed to take pole position away from the Spaniard. Lewis Hamilton took 5th place, ahead of his young Mercedes colleague, along with the impressive Kevin Magnussen of Haas, who managed to pass Fernando Alonso in 7th place.