2024 F1 Round 18 – Singapore Grand Prix qualifying: Norris sets 1:29.525 track record to take pole; Sainz hits wall, bringing out red flag

Qualifying for the 2024 F1 Singapore Grand Prix concluded at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on the evening of 21 September (China Standard Time, UTC+8). Norris took pole with a track-record lap of 1:29.525, while Verstappen was second, 0.203 seconds behind. The two title contenders will go head-to-head on the front row in the race. Yuki Tsunoda was eighth, returning to Q3 for the first time since the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The turning point in qualifying came in Q3: Sainz hit the barrier at the final corner of his first out-lap, bringing out the red flag and stopping the session clock with 8 minutes 04 seconds remaining. The interruption lasted around 15 minutes. Verstappen, who crossed the finish line just after the crash, was also affected—his lap time was deleted because of the double yellow flags triggered by the incident. At the restart, only Piastri and Hülkenberg—the latter having gone six rounds without reaching Q3—had valid banker laps on the board, turning the battle for pole into a final-lap shootout.

Norris ultimately secured pole with a 1:29.525, breaking the track record he had set only that afternoon, while Verstappen was second with a 1:29.728. Mercedes locked out the second row: Hamilton was third, edging Russell by just 0.026 seconds to outqualify his team-mate for the first time in four rounds; Piastri was fifth. Hülkenberg was sixth, Alonso seventh and Yuki Tsunoda eighth with a 1:30.354. Ferrari came away empty-handed: Leclerc’s Q3 lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 2, leaving him ninth without a valid time; Sainz was tenth after his crash, unable to record a lap time thereafter.

Williams had been tipped to get both cars into Q3 ahead of the session, but both were eliminated in Q2: Albon was 11th, missing the cut by just 0.024 seconds, with Colapinto another 0.007 seconds slower in 12th. Pérez was eliminated in Q2 after lapping 0.9 seconds slower than his team-mate and will start 13th; Magnussen was 14th on his return from a ban, and Ocon 15th. Ricciardo was knocked out in Q1: in 16th, he was 0.369 seconds slower than team-mate Tsunoda and just 0.127 seconds short of the Q2 cut-off. Stroll, Gasly, Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th respectively.

The 62-lap race will take place at 20:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8) on 22 September.