Singapore GP Sprint Qualifying: Max Verstappen claims pole position from George Russell but faces yellow flags investigation

09.10.2026, 17:11 skysports.com

Max Verstappen maintained his rich vein of form to claim pole position for Saturday's Sprint at the Singapore Grand Prix but is under an investigation for passing Lewis Hamilton under yellow flags earlier on in Sprint Qualifying.

Fresh from finally winning Red Bull's first race of the season from their first pole last week in Malaysia, Verstappen needed just a single flying lap at the end of SQ3 to claim pole by just over a tenth of a second from Mercedes' George Russell.

But championship leader Kimi Antonelli was only seventh in the other Mercedes, the one featuring their problematic upgrade introduced last week in Malaysia. Russell, who will serve a grid penalty in Sunday's main Grand Prix, has their older specification car and qualified half a second ahead of the newer one.

Verstappen will head to the stewards for an incident in SQ1 when he overtook Hamilton when yellow flags were showing for debris on the track after Cadillac's Sergio Perez had hit the barriers. Verstappen said over the radio he had let the Ferrari back through, but passing is forbidden in yellow-flag zones.

Ferrari had looked to be the team to beat heading into SQ3 and Charles Leclerc held provisional pole after his first lap but the Monegasque was shuffled back to third place in the end.

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Hamilton had also looked a pole contender but ended up sixth behind the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in fourth and fifth respectively.

The start of SQ2 had been delayed due to a timings issue that meant some of the final lap times of SQ1 were not initially registered before the definitive final order was confirmed and qualifying resumed.

More to follow...

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Saturday October 109am: Singapore GP Sprint build-up*10am: Singapore GP SPRINT*1pm: Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying build-up2pm: SINGAPORE GP QUALIFYING*4pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

Sunday October 1111.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Singapore GP build-up1pm: THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX3pm: Chequered Flag: Singapore GP reaction4pm: Ted's Notebook

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in Singapore for the last Sprint weekend of the season with Sunday's Grand Prix at 1pm (build-up from 11.30am) live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime