“I just focused on not doing any mistakes on that lap. Keeping it clean in Singapore normally pays off”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Pic/AFP
Carlos Sainz took pole position in a Ferrari on Saturday for the Singapore Grand Prix after a dramatic qualifying session where world championship leader Max Verstappen and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout.
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Sainz’s lap of 1min 30.984sec pipped the Mercedes of George Russell by 0.072sec and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc who was third, 0.007sec further back.
Red Bull had struggled for pace all weekend but nobody expected Verstappen, who has won the last 10 races in a row, to finish 11th fastest in Q2 and be eliminated along with Perez, who was 13th.
Sainz will start from pole for the second consecutive grand prix after also being fastest at the Italian GP two weeks ago. “A bit like Monza really, we hit the ground running in FP1. I felt very confident all through the sessions and put it together in Q3,” said Sainz, who also topped the time sheets in Saturday’s third free practice session.
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“I just focused on not doing any mistakes on that lap. Keeping it clean in Singapore normally pays off.”
Russell will start from the front row for the first time since the Australian Grand Prix at the beginning of April. “Really happy with this weekend as a whole. I felt really confident in the car, the team did a great job with the strategy. We are on an off-set strategy compared to everybody else, so we have an extra set of medium tyres tomorrow which nobody around us has. So to get to Q3 and be on the front row with a strategic advantage tomorrow is an exciting place to be,” said the Englishman.
Verstappen is chasing a third world title and has a massive 145-point lead over Perez. But the Dutchman has never triumphed under the lights in Singapore.
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