The battle for pole position for the Singapore Sprint remained wide open until the final moments, but in the end it was Max Verstappen who set the benchmark time, completing just one run on a fresh set of Soft tyres during the closing stages of SQ3. The Dutchman completed a single flying lap on that set, and the time proved enough to keep George Russell behind in second place.
Charles Leclerc finished third.
Verstappen stopped the clocks at 1m31.156s, while Russell recorded a 1m31.276s. The Mercedes driver completed two flying laps on the same set of new tyres, setting his best time on the second attempt, as did Leclerc. Russell opted for a sequence of one flying lap, two cool-down laps and then a second flying lap, while the Ferrari driver chose one flying lap, one cool-down lap and then a second attempt.
Russell was also fastest in FP1 on the C5 compound. The Mercedes driver posted a 1m32.274s lap. Behind him were Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, both of whom set their respective best times on the softest compound in the range.
Max Verstappen finished the opening track session in sixth place, the fastest of the drivers who set their best lap on the Medium compound. Nico Hülkenberg was the only driver to record his best performance on the Hard tyre. The C3 was used extensively, with all 20 drivers running the compound during the opening hour of track action.
The street circuit still required rubber to be laid down during FP1, and track evolution was particularly significant along the racing line throughout the session. With this being a Sprint weekend, teams focused much of their work on qualifying simulations, devoting less attention to race pace runs.
