The Japan Times - Verstappen continues resurgence with pole for Singapore sprint

George Russell's Mercedes joined Verstappen on the front row for the 21-lap dash on Saturday with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc third and Oscar Piastri's McLaren fourth.

A resurgent Verstappen, who won for the first time this season in Malaysia last weekend, clocked 1min 31.156sec under lights at a Marina Bay Circuit enveloped in haze caused by fires in Indonesia, 0.120sec quicker than Russell.

"It's always close here in Singapore. And also your lap itself, you're pushing as hard as you think is possible, close to the walls in places," said the four-time world champion.

"Once we bolted on the soft tyres (for SQ3), it felt like the car was coming alive a little bit more, but I did not expect this.

"Of course, very happy to be first."

Fifth was the McLaren of Lando Norris, followed by the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, sporting a new aerodynamic package, was only seventh in his Mercedes, with Liam Lawson (RB), Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) completing the top 10 on the grid.

Verstappen has never won in Singapore, where extremes of heat and humidity play a part in the most physically attritional race of the season.

He was buoyed by the pace of his Red Bull, which traditionally struggles on slower speed and bumpy street circuits.

"I think the last few races we have been a lot stronger," said Verstappen.

"But this track still highlights a few little weaknesses in the car, but we manage to drive with them as well as possible."

However the Dutchman could face a grid penalty as he was being investigated by stewards after the session for allegedly overtaking Hamilton under yellow flag conditions during SQ1.

Russell said of P2: "It is going to be challenging, the grip here (means) the drivers on the pole side have a big advantage."

- 'Difficult weekend' -

Antonelli admitted he struggled throughout the session.

"Still a lot to understand about this package, the car is very unpredictable and it is very hard to put a lap together," said the Italian, who is 84 points ahead of Russell in the drivers' standings.

"I came with high hopes. But I think it will be a difficult weekend. I don't really see where we can find seven tenths."

Singapore is featuring a sprint race for the first time, on a track that is notoriously difficult for overtaking.

The only practice session for the teams to get to grips with the idiosyncrasies of the Marina Bay Street Circuit took place on a dusty track before sunset earlier on Friday, hardly ideal preparation for a 62-lap night race on Sunday.

Singapore is exteremly tough on drivers, who can shed up to 3kg (6lb) during the grand prix from sweating alone, and the race weekend has been declared a "heat hazard" by organisers allowing drivers to wear cooling vests.

The teams also have to contend with the thick haze caused by wildfires in nearby Indonesia, which saw Singapore's air quality plunge to an "unhealthy" 205 on Friday according to the IQAir tracking website.

Readings above 150 are classified as unhealthy, while levels above 300 are considered hazardous.

Motorsport's governing body told AFP the race was not under threat from the haze.

S.Ogawa--JT