A better night for the championship leader’s improved car still wasn’t enough to bring Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes into the fight for pole at the Singapore Grand Prix, so this is turning into a very good weekend for (one) Red Bull.
Here’s our full look at the qualifier winners and losers.
Winner: Max Verstappen (1st)
Max Verstappen may be just one jump away from ending his time in Singapore and taking a Grand Prix victory at the only remaining circuit where he has raced regularly in F1 without winning.
He seemed hooked on the Red Bull this weekend, as the 2026 car seems much more suited to the Marina Bay street circuit than its ground-effect predecessors ever did.
It wasn’t perfect. The fact that Verstappen couldn’t improve on his last race left him vulnerable. But there’s no better place to start if Verstappen wants to secure two spin victories: even if he’s clearly still not convinced by Red Bull’s problems on the start line.
He was attacked by George Russell during the sprint and Verstappen says there is “no excuse” for that given sister team Racing Bulls are having good launches with the same software and hardware. -Scott Mitchell-Malm
Loser: Isack Hadjar (22nd)
A session that left the other Red Bull driver “pissed off” and wanting to stay home.
Isack Hadjar praised the work done by his Red Bull mechanics to get him back on track before a gearbox problem which “broke fourth gear” and caused another brutal finish.
Hadjar wasn’t very happy after qualifying ended and went into something of a spiral during his media session about his dislike of the current sprint format, future sprint races and the “very disappointing” decision-making that led to more sprints being put on the calendar.
Part of the Red Bull driver’s frustration comes from the fact that his enthusiasm to overcome his driving problems is ruined and the chances of scoring points on Sunday now seem far from reality. Or, as he sums it up quite amusingly: “I could have stayed in Paris and it would have been the same (result.)” -Eden Hannigan
Winner: Improved Mercedes (4th)
Kimi Antonelli’s gap to pole was reduced from seven tenths to two tenths of a second from Friday to Saturday, a victory for the improved Mercedes.
Antonelli said: “We were completely opposite with the settings (after the sprint race), and the car was in a happier place.”
La Course understands that the change in balance prevented the car from generating too much oversteer and giving Antonelli a lack of confidence under braking.
Antonelli played with the differential settings during the sprint, which eliminated much of this oversteer – leading to a stronger pace later in the race – and this was followed by major setup changes after the sprint, including increasing the ride height and thus bringing the aerodynamic balance into a better window.
He believes Mercedes should switch both of its drivers to the new package for the next race in Austin so the team can continue experimenting to find the right window for its new upgrade.
Russell, a largely meaningless sixth in qualifying with a heavy engine penalty to serve for the race, was not as beaming.
“It was positive to see Kimi more competitive today than yesterday, however, we weren’t really lighting the fire on the timing screen,” Russell said.
“As a team, we are still not happy with where we are with the new package. We recognize that we need to make configuration adjustments to compensate for these changes. Maybe we can find a way to make it work, but right now we need more time.”
The improved Mercedes still lags behind the Red Bull and Ferrari in Singapore, at least, but it has clearly taken a step in the right direction. -Josh Suttill
Loser: Aston Martin (17th + 19th)
A complicated session which could leave Aston Martin in an even worse situation than the first qualifying results suggest.
Fernando Alonso has already suggested he could take a grid penalty for a turbo problem which progressively worsened throughout Saturday’s action, culminating in a loss of power and momentum coming out of corners and an exit from Q1.
A blockage and a bit of traffic was the story from the other side of the garage as Lance Stroll surmised that Aston Martin’s main problem was the bumpy nature of the Marina Bay circuit not working for its current package.
Given that track conditions are unlikely to change overnight and low grid positions could become even lower, the reality is a far cry from the pre-event aspirations of another potential points haul. -EH
Winner: Charles Leclerc (2nd)
After a grueling sprint where he faded badly due to worn front tires, it was Charles Leclerc at his best – dancing through the discomfort to put in a very good qualifying lap out of nowhere.
He lagged far behind Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton in Q1 and Q2, struggling to lean the car to one side under braking, but with more commitment he turned things around in Q3 and even came surprisingly close to pole.
Leclerc hinted that he was still not entirely happy with the car, so even beyond a front row start which is usually a good qualifying result, it worked very well. -SMM
Loser: Lewis Hamilton (3rd)
Context is key to determining why Hamilton ultimately lost in qualifying.
Third on the grid is good, especially when the gaps are so small. But it could have been so much more.
Leclerc said there was more to the Ferrari and Hamilton was proof. His theoretical best lap in Q3 was faster than Verstappen’s, so if he had pieced together the sectors he would be first. Plain and simple.
Hamilton had been delighted with his runs in Q1 and Q2, so to get this final result, after a Q3 in which he said neither lap was good, is a loss. – SMM
Loser: Franco Colapinto (16th)
Eight places behind his Alpine teammate, Pierre Gasly, looked more like the Franco Colapinto of yesteryear, rather than the driver who was on good terms with Gasly for much of the second half of the season.
Colapinto found himself in the wall in Q2 at turn 17, but even before that he didn’t look likely to join Gasly in Q3.
“It’s very strange,” Colapinto said of his 16th place finish. “Before the wall, I was already much slower than my Q1 lap, which we would normally improve a lot.
“So, I don’t know, it’s very strange, I didn’t have any rear grip on the last lap. It was extremely bad, it was the worst balance I’ve had this weekend.
“So, I don’t know, a little lost, to be honest, because Q1 seemed pretty easy to go around and it wasn’t going too bad, but then it was very, very bad. -JS
Winner: Pierre Gasly (8th)
For the third consecutive Grand Prix qualifying session, Gasly won F1’s midfield battle, beating both Racing Bulls in Q3.
Gasly called it “one of my best Q3s of the year” in a season where he took pole at Monza, as he was delighted with its execution on a sprint weekend.
He just hopes that his participation in Q3 will result in points, unlike Azerbaijan and Malaysia.
“I have to say in the last few weekends I think we did four Q3s (including the Singapore sprint) in the last four qualifiers, but somehow we didn’t score as much because it always went wrong for some reason,” Gasly said.
“So as much as I would like a bit of chaos tomorrow, I hope it doesn’t concern us another time, and I hope we can translate this good qualification into points.” -JS
Loser: Alex Albon (18th)
Alex Albon was half a second slower than his Williams teammate Carlos Sainz in Q1, although he was “relatively happy with my lap”.
The data suggests that the majority of that loss appears to come from the way Albon approached the tricky left-hander at Turn 13.
Team boss James Vowles said Albon “wasn’t as comfortable in the car” after Williams made repairs after the sprint, during which he ended up at the back of Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi during the safety car restart.
Sainz’s Q2 was also compromised as Williams’ systems indicated he had taken the checkered flag when he had not – so he abandoned his lap and with it any chance of beating the Haas drivers.
“We’ll take a look at it tonight and see what changes we need to make so that both drivers can come back stronger tomorrow,” Vowles said. – J.S.
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