{"id":3744,"date":"2026-10-10T11:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T14:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3744"},"modified":"2026-10-10T11:54:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T14:54:23","slug":"verstappen-denies-hamilton-first-f1-pole-in-three-years-with-late-singapore-lap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/verstappen-denies-hamilton-first-f1-pole-in-three-years-with-late-singapore-lap\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen snatches Singapore pole as Leclerc and Hamilton complete Ferrari&#8217;s top three"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Max Verstappen secured Singapore GP pole with a 1:31.373<\/strong>, beating Charles Leclerc by 0.054s and Lewis Hamilton by 0.123s.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hamilton led Q1 and Q2<\/strong>, but missed his first Grand Prix pole since Hungary 2023 as Ferrari placed both cars inside the top three.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth<\/strong>, while Gabriel Bortoleto was eliminated in Q2 and Isack Hadjar finished last after repeated technical problems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the <strong>2026 Singapore Grand Prix<\/strong> on Saturday, October 10, beating Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in a dramatic final qualifying session at Marina Bay after Ferrari had dominated the opening two segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Red Bull driver set a <strong>1:31.373<\/strong>, finishing just 0.054s ahead of Leclerc and 0.123s clear of Hamilton. Kimi Antonelli completed the top four for Mercedes, while Lando Norris qualified fifth for McLaren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result completed a remarkable Saturday for Verstappen, who had already won the rain-affected sprint earlier in the day. It also prevented Hamilton from ending a Grand Prix pole drought dating back to July 2023, despite the seven-time world champion showing the strongest pace during Q1 and Q2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Verstappen beats Ferrari in final Q3 battle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hamilton established himself as the main contender for pole during the opening stages of qualifying, topping Q1 ahead of Leclerc and Norris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ferrari driver maintained his advantage in Q2, improving on his earlier performance and keeping Verstappen behind as the field fought for places in the final segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Dutchman, however, found additional speed in Q3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen set the early benchmark with a 1:31.373, leaving Hamilton just 0.123s behind after the first competitive attempts. Antonelli was also close, while Leclerc remained in contention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The final laps brought another challenge from Ferrari, with Leclerc moving ahead of Hamilton to secure second place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Verstappen remained fastest, taking pole ahead of both Ferraris<\/strong>, with Antonelli fourth and Norris fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result followed <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/verstappen-finally-wins-in-singapore-as-rain-crashes-and-mclaren-chaos-wreck-f1-sprint\/\">Verstappen&#8217;s victory in Saturday&#8217;s Singapore sprint<\/a><\/strong>, when the Red Bull driver finished ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc after a race disrupted by heavy rain and nine retirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hamilton misses first Ferrari pole after leading Q1 and Q2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hamilton&#8217;s third place ended a promising qualifying session in which he had been Ferrari&#8217;s fastest driver through the opening two segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Briton had arrived in Singapore seeking his first Grand Prix pole since the <strong>2023 Hungarian GP<\/strong>, when he beat Verstappen by 0.003s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A pole at Marina Bay would have been his 105th in Formula 1 and his first for Ferrari, following 26 with McLaren and 78 with Mercedes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hamilton had already shown strong pace during Friday&#8217;s sprint qualifying, although <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/hamilton-admits-costly-mistake-after-ferraris-singapore-sprint-pole-hopes-fade\/\">he admitted that an unsuccessful run plan and a lack of rear grip compromised his final attempt<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saturday&#8217;s session produced a better result for Ferrari, with Leclerc securing second and Hamilton third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two drivers will start behind Verstappen, who is attempting to follow his first Singapore sprint victory with his first Grand Prix win at Marina Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Antonelli takes fourth as Russell faces grid penalty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Championship leader Antonelli secured fourth place for Mercedes, continuing his recovery after struggling with the team&#8217;s updated aerodynamic specification during Friday&#8217;s running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Italian had finished seventh in sprint qualifying before recovering to fourth in Saturday&#8217;s shorter race, extending his championship advantage over teammate George Russell to <strong>89 points<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell&#8217;s weekend has been considerably more difficult. The Briton crashed out of the sprint after overtaking Verstappen for the lead and carries a previously confirmed 40-place power-unit grid penalty for Sunday&#8217;s Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/antonelli-extends-f1-title-lead-to-89-points-as-russell-crashes-and-verstappen-closes-in\/\">GRANDE PR\u00caMIO reported after the sprint<\/a><\/strong>, Antonelli now has 325 championship points, compared with Russell&#8217;s 236.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bortoleto misses Q3 as Hadjar finishes last<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gabriel Bortoleto was eliminated during Q2, finishing <strong>15th in the qualifying classification<\/strong> for Audi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Brazilian had also struggled to progress beyond Q2 during Friday&#8217;s sprint qualifying and was unable to finish Saturday&#8217;s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Franco Colapinto finished 16th for Alpine, while Fernando Alonso, Alexander Albon, Lance Stroll, Sergio P\u00e9rez, Valtteri Bottas and Isack Hadjar were eliminated in Q1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hadjar endured the most difficult qualifying session of the field after reporting an engine shutdown and subsequently losing gears during another attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Frenchman finished 22nd after failing to record a representative lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/hadjar-loses-gears-after-engine-scare-and-finishes-dead-last-in-singapore-qualifying\/\">GRANDE PR\u00caMIO detailed Hadjar&#8217;s repeated technical problems<\/a><\/strong>, which followed his retirement from the earlier sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alonso has also confirmed a power-unit change for Sunday&#8217;s race, which will affect the final grid alongside Russell&#8217;s penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/singapore-gp-schedule-changes-after-rain-chaos-when-are-qualifying-and-the-race\/\">updated Singapore GP schedule, including Sunday&#8217;s race time<\/a><\/strong> is available in <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong>, which follows the latest <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">Formula 1<\/a><\/strong> news throughout the Singapore GP weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Singapore GP 2026 \u2014 starting grid after penalties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><th>Pos.<\/th><th>Driver<\/th><th>Team<\/th><th>Qualifying time<\/th><th>Gap<\/th><\/tr><tr><td>1<\/td><td>M. VERSTAPPEN<\/td><td>Red Bull RBPT Ford<\/td><td>1:31.373<\/td><td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2<\/td><td>C. LECLERC<\/td><td>Ferrari<\/td><td>1:31.427<\/td><td>+0.054<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3<\/td><td>L. HAMILTON<\/td><td>Ferrari<\/td><td>1:31.496<\/td><td>+0.123<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4<\/td><td>K. ANTONELLI<\/td><td>Mercedes<\/td><td>1:31.562<\/td><td>+0.189<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5<\/td><td>L. NORRIS<\/td><td>McLaren Mercedes<\/td><td>1:31.712<\/td><td>+0.339<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6<\/td><td>O. PIASTRI<\/td><td>McLaren Mercedes<\/td><td>1:31.860<\/td><td>+0.487<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7<\/td><td>P. GASLY<\/td><td>Alpine Mercedes<\/td><td>1:32.225<\/td><td>+0.852<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>8<\/td><td>L. LAWSON<\/td><td>Racing Bulls RBPT Ford<\/td><td>1:32.369<\/td><td>+0.996<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9<\/td><td>A. LINDBLAD<\/td><td>Racing Bulls RBPT Ford<\/td><td>1:32.781<\/td><td>+1.408<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10<\/td><td>N. H\u00dcLKENBERG<\/td><td>Audi<\/td><td>1:32.784<\/td><td>+1.411<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11<\/td><td>O. BEARMAN<\/td><td>Haas Ferrari<\/td><td>1:32.908<\/td><td>+1.535<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12<\/td><td>E. OCON<\/td><td>Haas Ferrari<\/td><td>1:33.323<\/td><td>+1.950<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>13<\/td><td>C. SAINZ<\/td><td>Williams Mercedes<\/td><td>1:33.526<\/td><td>+2.153<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>14<\/td><td>G. BORTOLETO<\/td><td>Audi<\/td><td>1:33.658<\/td><td>+2.285<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>15<\/td><td>F. COLAPINTO<\/td><td>Alpine Mercedes<\/td><td>1:33.787<\/td><td>+2.414<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>16<\/td><td>F. ALONSO<\/td><td>Aston Martin Honda<\/td><td>1:34.223<\/td><td>+2.850<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>17<\/td><td>A. ALBON<\/td><td>Williams Mercedes<\/td><td>1:34.289<\/td><td>+2.916<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>18<\/td><td>L. STROLL<\/td><td>Aston Martin Honda<\/td><td>1:34.946<\/td><td>+3.573<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>19<\/td><td>S. P\u00c9REZ<\/td><td>Cadillac Ferrari<\/td><td>1:35.123<\/td><td>+3.750<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>20<\/td><td>V. BOTTAS<\/td><td>Cadillac Ferrari<\/td><td>1:35.984<\/td><td>+4.611<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>21<\/td><td>I. HADJAR<\/td><td>Red Bull RBPT Ford<\/td><td>No time<\/td><td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>22<\/td><td>G. RUSSELL<\/td><td>Mercedes<\/td><td>1:31.747<\/td><td>+0.374<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Max Verstappen claims Singapore Grand Prix pole with a late Q3 lap, beating Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton after Ferrari led the opening two qualifying segments at Marina Bay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020317773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Max Verstappen","42wp_featured_image_credits":"F1","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":22,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[56,63,64,248],"42wp_author":[22],"class_list":["post-3744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-ferrari","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-max-verstappen","tag-singapore-gp","42wp_author-jp-nascimento"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3744"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3753,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3744\/revisions\/3753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020317773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3744"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}