George Russell takes Singapore Grand Prix pole ahead of Max Verstappen with record-breaking lap

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George Russell will start the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix from pole position after an impressive lap time saw him break the Marina Bay Street Circuit record.

Russell becomes the fourth different polesitter in the last four years at the Singapore Grand Prix after setting an unbeatable lap time with his first flying Q3 lap.

Russell leads from Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, who both are still running in contention for this year’s drivers’ title.

Verstappen trails championship leader Piastri by 69 points, in a weekend which could prove vital for his shot at a fifth drivers’ title victory.

Elsewhere on the grid, Racing Bulls engineers had pulled off an incredible feat in getting Liam Lawson’s car ready for qualifying after a nasty shunt in FP3. The Kiwi has had an unfortunate start to the weekend, crashing in the last two practice sessions and missing out on some vital mileage around the track.

Lawson has not previously raced around the Marina Bay Circuit in F1, after replacing Daniel Ricciardo in the team at the following race around the Circuit of the Americas.

Lewis Hamilton has avoided a grid penalty for a red flag infringement in FP3, after stewards had previously believed the Ferrari was speeding under the caution.

Read more: Singapore Grand Prix: how to watch, UK timings and weather as McLaren target championship victory

Oscar Piastri struggles in Q1 after ‘unfair’ yellow flag incident

Q1 got off to a rocky start for Piastri, whose first flying lap was disrupted by an ‘unfair’ yellow flag. The Aussie was overtaking a Williams, which ran deep at Turn 1, triggering marshals at the side of the track to bring out the yellow flags.

The incident forced Piastri to slow down, disrupting his first attempt to set a qualifying time. The championship leader had a difficult Q1, and was unable to get his car into the top five.

Hamilton led an all-British top-three at the end of the first part of qualifying, leading from Russell and Lando Norris.

A late yellow flag, triggered by Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, which suffered a steering issue, caused sector 2 issues for several drivers on a final push to make it out of Q1. A driver who was caught out in the incident was Gabriel Bortoleto, who previously managed to outqualify his teammate at 10 races this season.

Alpine also struggled through the session, with Gasly’s steering issue leaving him at the bottom of the grid, and Franco Colapinto in P18, making this the team’s third double Q1 exit in a row.

It was announced at the end of Q1 that Russell, Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda would be investigated after the session for a potential yellow flag infringement, although Russell was cleared at the end of Q2.

Leclerc narrowly avoids Q2 exit after clipping the wall

Kimi Antonelli and Hamilton had their first Q2 lap times deleted for track limits, leaving the young Mercedes driver without a time, heading into the final five minutes of the session.

Charles Leclerc looked like he could set an impressive flying lap until he tapped a concrete wall in the final sector, losing him valuable time and seeing him struggle to get out of the bottom five.

Leclerc found himself under pressure on his final lap, finding himself in P15, as the chequered flag began to wave. The Monegasque managed to save himself as he crossed the line, putting himself slightly ahead of his teammate in P6.

Q2 was a difficult run for Williams, who had looked like they could have pace again this weekend. Both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were out at the end of Q2, after failing to keep up with the top of the pack.

George Russell sets Marina Bay Street Circuit lap record with pole position

George Russell took provisional pole at the end of the first flying laps, setting a time of 1:29.165, despite tapping the wall coming out of Turn 17. The Brit set an impressive time that was unbeaten by both McLarens and Verstappen, who couldn’t match the pace of the Mercedes.

Russell’s impressive time of 1:29.158 broke the Marina Bay Street Circuit lap record which was set by Norris in qualifying last year.

Both Piastri and Norris struggled for pace in the early parts of the weekend, which could prove vital for their championship title fight. Piastri leads the drivers’ title with 324, with Verstappen behind by 69 points in third.