‘Very strong’ F1 driver’s future should be under threat after unhappy Singapore Grand Prix display

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There were some very surprising performances during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix as Mercedes driver George Russell took the seventh pole position of his Formula 1 career.

George Russell set a record-breaking lap to beat Max Verstappen on Saturday, with drivers’ championship leader, Oscar Piastri, lining up behind them in third.

Charles Leclerc was furious with starting P7, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton outqualified him without ever looking in contention for a front-row start.

However, a few drivers further down the grid will be more annoyed with what took place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Both Williams drivers were disqualified for a DRS infringement and will start from the back of the grid.

Nico Hulkenberg finally beat his rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in qualifying for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix, while Haas driver Oliver Bearman impressed to reach Q3.

Bearman is closing in on a one-race ban, and his exceptional speed has been combined with too many errors that have ruined his weekends.

But his teammate Esteban Ocon was a long way off the pace in qualifying, and having only scored one point in a Grand Prix since Austria, the Frenchman might be starting to feel the pressure.

READ MORE: Haas driver Esteban Ocon’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Esteban Ocon needs to improve after another disappointing qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix

During the main Sky Sports F1 (4/10 3:57 pm) broadcast, Jenson Button called Ocon a ‘very strong’ driver, despite another Q1 exit.

Bearman has beaten Ocon in qualifying at four of the last five races, and the last time the British youngster was beaten in a race they both finished was in Austria.

Considering Ocon is a race winner with 173 Grand Prix starts, he should be dominating Bearman most weekends.

Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner suggested Ocon would never be a world champion in the build-up to the race in Singapore.

While that won’t be a concern for Ayao Komatsu, he will want to see the Frenchman take a step forward before the end of the season, with Bearman improving every week.

READ MORE: All to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari and Toyota ties

Ted Kravitz says Esteban Ocon looked unhappy in the Singapore Grand Prix paddock

Speaking on Ted’s Notebook after qualifying, pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz spoke about both Haas drivers and explained: “Ollie Bearman, fantastic performance from him, P9.

“Great job from Ollie. No experience here. And then bash, P9, and then P10 in Q2, nailed the lap when it mattered, finished P9 on the grid. So well done to him.

“Esteban Ocon, not so much. I spoke to him after Friday’s practice. He said the car’s good, all we have to do is polish it, I don’t want them changing anything on it.

“Yes, they’ll probably change some things on it because that’s what engineers do. And then what do we know now? Free Practice 3 this morning, Esteban says, those changes don’t work. I’d like you to go back to what we had at the end of Friday, and then, of course, he’d lost practice, and then they went back, and the result from that is only P19.

“So when Esteban tells you that he’s happy with a car, don’t change it; he means it. So it’s two-tenths off getting into Q2 and half a second behind Ollie Bearman.

“So that’s the story as to why Esteban Ocon is only 19th on the grid, although, of course, he will move on [due to Williams’ double disqualification].

“And does he look happy to you? No, he does not.”

Ocon looked superb at the start of the season, finishing fifth in China and eighth in Bahrain, but he’s suffered from far too many problems, especially in qualifying, since then.

He leads Bearman by 12 points in the drivers’ championship with seven races to go, but the British driver is in a great position to add to his tally when he starts ninth in Singapore.