Motor racing-Red Bull's Verstappen fastest in Singapore to claim 50th career pole

Red Bull's Max Verstappen ‌claimed ​the 50th pole position of his career when he went fastest in qualifying under the lights at the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday, repeating his heroics from the sprint qualifying session a day earlier. Verstappen clocked one minute 31.373 seconds at the Marina Bay Street Circuit ‌and will have Ferrari's Charles Leclerc alongside him on the front row, with the Monegasque driver just 0.054 seconds slower than the four-times champion.

Leclerc's team mate Lewis Hamilton was third fastest and championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fourth quickest for Mercedes. "The margins are very close between us throughout all of qualifying, so of course, very happy to be on pole because this is the ‌one that I wanted," Verstappen said ahead of his 250th race.

"The car has been pretty strong all weekend. Of course, I always think that you can be better, but ‌it was enough for pole, so very happy with that." Verstappen, who won a chaotic sprint in wet conditions earlier on Saturday, topped the timesheets despite gearbox issues in Q2 to claim his second straight pole of the season.

Leclerc had struggled in Q1 and Q2 but found his groove in Q3 to put Ferrari on the front row right at the end of the session. "I had some weird things going on with the brakes, car pulling a ⁠bit under ​braking, which is not so nice on a track ⁠like here," Leclerc said.

"But then in Q3, the lap was okay. I did some mistakes. I think there was a potential to be on pole today, but Max just did a better job." With celebrity girlfriend Kim Kardashian ⁠watching on from the Ferrari garage, Hamilton topped Q1 and Q2 at a circuit where he has four victories, but the Briton could not reproduce his form in Q3.

"There's a real fine line with our ​car where it's over the edge or under the limit and finding that sweet spot is very, very difficult," said seven-times world champion Hamilton. Mercedes driver George Russell, ⁠second in the championship, was sixth fastest in Q3 but the Briton is set to start from the back of the grid due to his engine penalty as he looks to bridge the 89-point gap to Antonelli.

HADJAR LOSES 100% ⁠Q3 ​RECORD Drivers struggled under braking in the first session, with Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll both forced to abandon their laps, but the biggest casualty of Q1 was Verstappen's team mate Isack Hadjar.

The Frenchman complained about an issue with his gearbox before the 22-year-old returned to the garage without setting a lap time, losing his 100% record of qualifying for Q3 this ⁠year. "Nothing Isack could have done. We had a gearbox issue on his car," Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies told Sky Sports.

Verstappen also complained about gearbox issues despite advancing from ⁠Q2. "Insanely, insanely bad shifts," he said. "The downshifts are ⁠so bad."

Reigning champion Lando Norris and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri will line up on the third row after the stewards took no further action following the collision between the two drivers in the sprint. Alpine's Pierre Gasly will start seventh on the grid followed by the ‌Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson ‌and Arvid Lindblad, and Audi's Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.