Norris Takes Pole, But Verstappen Stands Out

Do not count Max Verstappen out; the world champion will not be defeated without a fight. Although the Singapore pole and, therefore, the reference in the first meters went to Lando Norris, the Red Bull driver brought out his best to return to the front row of the grid after several Grand Prix. Given that in the previous five poles he achieved, Norris did not reach the first corner first, Verstappen and Red Bull are right to be optimistic.

For the Spaniards, it was not a Saturday without prominence, far from it. On one hand, Carlos Sainz crashed into the wall at the last corner and caused a red flag that marred the end of qualifying. On the other hand, Fernando Alonso took advantage of Williams and especially Ferrari's less-than-perfect qualifying and will start from a more than decent 7th place.

The extreme equality among everyone meant that with 5 minutes left everything was still undecided. The top 17 were within one minute of each other until the temperature dropped completely and happy hour arrived.

The happiest were McLaren, with Norris ahead of Verstappen and Piastri, who tried but fell short. No surprises here, except perhaps seeing Ferrari so far behind. It was not expected to see Carlos Sainz barely making it into Q2 on his last lap or Charles Leclerc just making it into the 'top 10'. More predictable were Aston Martin's results, both Fernando Alonso's relatively comfortable qualification and Lance Stroll's elimination from whom nothing is expected.

Besides the Canadian, Daniel Ricciardo fell short as well, improving on Stroll but not enough, along with Pierre Gasly and the predictable Stake F1.

The track improvement slowed slightly as soon as the second session began. Good laps were defined more by tire conditions than by track evolution.

Thus, many drivers did their best laps at the beginning. One example was Fernando Alonso. The Asturian seemed doomed to be eliminated, but Williams did not perform as expected.

Both Albon and Colapinto came very close but not enough to make the cut. Besides them, Sergio Pérez (who had been making Q3 for several GPs) returned to his old ways here, along with Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon who failed to advance. Carlos Sainz did not struggle much to get through; however, it was more surprising to see Mercedes surprisingly competitive, both Hamilton and Russell. Still far from the top but enough to be taken into account.

Again, Norris was the reference. It seemed clear who would take glory in the end… but Verstappen still had something to say.

The session that decided pole was only one attempt long. Carlos Sainz was to blame for this as he had a serious accident when accelerating right after slowing down to let a McLaren pass. The tires got cold and when he tried to accelerate again, he ended up against the wall.

Once the session resumed, many drivers knew they only had one shot available. The fastest was Lando Norris, forcing his rivals to push until they nearly crashed. Pushed to the limit, Max Verstappen showed he still has much to say and came very close to his great rival. The Dutchman's return to the front row is a statement of intent.

Behind them, many drivers surprised. For example, Fernando Alonso qualified with an excellent 7th time, magnified by Leclerc's mistake which cost him his marked lap.

This Sunday's race could yield any result. If Singapore is known for anything on the calendar, it's for the near impossibility of predicting the podium. Verstappen, who has never won at Marina Bay, knows he can win; Norris does too… and they are not alone.