Mercedes
Russell admitted he lacked confidence in FP3 through the Turn 16 chicane, the place he crashed yesterday. But somehow, he put that behind him in Qualifying to grab his second pole of the season. Russell left it all out there on his first run in Q3, clobbering the wall but keeping his foot in to grab provisional pole, and was one of very few to improve on his second run to seal the deal. As for Antonelli, he was made to work hard in Q1 after getting traffic in the form of Sainz – having to abort his first effort. But after that, he nailed every lap to grab fourth on the grid for the second straight race.
George Russell, 1st, 1:29.158
“It’s been a challenging weekend so far and I’ve had to build my confidence with the car. Come the end of Q2 though, I felt that I was in a good place and had more lap time in my pocket. I knew I had the car beneath me, and I was able to deliver with both efforts in Q3. It’s a good reminder that a setback on Friday doesn’t need to impact the rest of the weekend.
“Tomorrow won’t be easy but we’re starting from the best possible position. I will be focusing on my race and hopefully we can fight for a good result. We’ve not had a good look at our long run pace and in recent races Max (Verstappen) has been the man to beat, plus we know that the McLarens are strong in races where tyre management is key. Let’s see what we can do.”
Kimi Antonelli, 4th, 1:29.537
“I am slightly disappointed to end our day in P4. I had a good FP3 and put together strong laps in both Q1 and Q2. It didn’t quite come together in Q3 sadly as I pushed a little too hard on both laps. I left a good chunk of lap time on the table and that is frustrating. It is a shame as I think we had a real shot at pole position but at least the front row. I’m pleased that I’ve managed to get up to speed quickly at a track that I’ve never driven before but there was definitely more there than our final result.
“There are some unknowns heading into the race. Not many cars have managed to get a representative long run completed and we know how critical that pace, and tyre management, will be for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. Starting P4, we have the opportunity to fight for the podium if we do have good race pace and hopefully we can bring home a good result.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“The improvements we made to the car overnight certainly helped both drivers today. Both George and Kimi were more comfortable in FP3 and showed solid pace to be in amongst the top five. They carried that speed into qualifying and converted it into strong positions for Sunday’s race.
“After his accident in FP2, George spent FP3 and Q1 building his confidence with the car. He always had more margin to push and used that when it mattered to produce two stunning laps in Q3. He has been incredibly strong all year, and this was yet another great performance. For Kimi, he has been on George’s pace all weekend and that is very encouraging for him following on from a good weekend in Baku. Whilst he couldn’t quite put his ultimate lap together in Q3, he still has a good opportunity to fight for the podium tomorrow from P4.
“We have only managed one long run so far this weekend so there are plenty of unknowns heading into the race. Looking after the rear tyres is critical for a good result and hopefully we have taken a step forward with that with recent upgrades. If we can do so, and given our starting positions, then we can look forward to a competitive showing.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“Congratulations to George and the team in Brackley and Brixworth on pole position. George drove a very solid session, finding time with every new tyre set but it was the step he made going into Q3that the others struggled to match.
“Kimi finished a very credible P4; he’ll be disappointed not to be closer to pole knowing the potential that was in the car, but he recovered well from being blocked on his first run in Q1 and getting track limits in Q2. To end up splitting the McLarens is certainly a good achievement.
“We’re going to have some very strong opposition in the race tomorrow. The McLarens always look good on long runs at the overheating tracks and we’re expecting Max to be putting us under pressure so will take nothing for granted. It’s rarely a straightforward race but we’ll be doing everything we can to convert today’s performance into good points tomorrow.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Pole position qualifier George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team celebrates on arrival in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Pole position qualifier George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team celebrates on arrival in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
Red Bull
Verstappen finished fastest in a tight FP3 session and went into Qualifying as arguably the favourite for pole. He was one of just two drivers to make it through Q1 using just one set of tyres, and made serene progress all the way to Q3. But after grabbing second with his opening lap in the shootout, he had to abort his second due to traffic in the form of Norris, and thus was left frustrated after failing to see if he could have beaten Russell. Tsunoda could not keep up with his team mate all Saturday long, and wound up exiting in Q2.
Max Verstappen, 2nd, 1:29.340
“Overall it has been a very good Qualifying for us on this track which has not always been the kindest to us. Second is a really good result for us and I am very happy with the overall result and that we are on the front row. It could have been super close; George was very fast and we were fighting for Pole but what happened in the final sector was unfortunate and basically cost me the lap. In general, I think we can be pleased with the result so far and we have done a really good job with the set-up of the car. Normally on high downforce tracks we aren’t as good so this is a great result for us. The car has been in a better window and we have been good with the tyres and have been very solid all weekend. Hopefully the car has good race pace tomorrow, it is a long race around here and we will do our best and get as many points as we can.”
Yuki Tsunoda, 15th, 1:30.353
“Quali today was not my session, I really struggled with the grip overall and it didn’t improve much from Q1 to Q2. I actually felt like the grip was worse today in comparison to FP1 and FP2 yesterday where I didn’t really feel it, it’s a shame as I don’t think it should be this difficult. On the positive side our pace is definitely better than it was before Baku so there is improvement there at least. My confidence is still there but I would like some more consistency from the car, I just felt like the tyres never really switched on today. Tomorrow is new day and although it is a shame that I have to start quite far back, I am hopeful that we can score points, that is at least my aim.”
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal
“Once again, it was a very strong Qualifying from Max. It is good to get a front row start on a track that historically hasn’t been great for us, so my first thoughts are for everyone in Milton Keynes and at the track who have been working so hard to get that car back to life on this type of circuit and that’s exactly what has been done. Of course, we feel we would have been quite a bit closer to George without the last corner traffic, but that’s life. We are not on pole today, but we have been able to fight at the top of the grid all weekend and have felt we are in the right rhythm, with the McLarens and the Mercedes. It is going to be a tough battle with them and with the Ferraris tomorrow. Yuki was very unhappy with the grip level he had today and ultimately we did not have the performance to make it to Q3. However, he showed in Baku that he has the race pace to make progress and he is showing more confidence in the car. The grid order should make for an interesting race tomorrow!”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
McLaren
Piastri looked strong in FP3 and seemed the McLaren driver more likely to challenge for pole. But he had a tricky Q1 when yellow flags disrupted his first run and forced him to use a second set of tyres. After surviving that hiccup, the Australian pushed his rivals hard but ultimately the McLaren lacked the outright pace to compete for P1 today. The better news for Piastri is that he did beat his team mate and Championship rival Norris, who has been feeling under the weather and could only manage P5.
Oscar Piastri, 3rd, 1:29.524
“I wanted more and thought we could have achieved more as we headed into Qualifying, but ultimately we didn’t have the pace to challenge for pole. As a result, I am happy with where we have ended up. It has been a solid weekend, and I think we’ve built up to it nicely. It was a clean session, so not much more we could have asked for. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Lando Norris, 5th, 1:29.586
“Not a great day. I just wasn’t able to drive at the limit of where I needed to be. Some things for us to work on, but hopefully we can make some progress tomorrow.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
“A competitive day on track with multiple teams challenging at the very front of the grid. There’s a pattern from Baku and Singapore that resembles Canada, where the braking with the bumps and curbs creates challenges for the MCL39. Ultimately, some other teams seem to handle these circuit types slightly better, but this doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. This, however, is still important information which we can take on board as a team to learn and move forward.
“Despite this, we still have good starting positions for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix. We are ready for another tough but entertaining race and can be confident with hard work and preparation overnight that we can be in contention for a podium finish or even the victory.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Ferrari
Ferrari’s charge faded on Saturday in Singapore, after Friday had indicated they might be in the mix. They were flirting with the lower reaches of the top 10 in final practice, but started Qualifying more brightly – especially with Hamilton. Leclerc had to work harder in Q2 to move onwards after clipping the wall and aborting his lap. But while they made Q3, they did not look likely to challenge for the front two rows with both drivers only having one set of soft tyres with which to compete.
Charles Leclerc, 7th, 1:29.784
“It was a really tough qualifying, which unfortunately seems to match what we have seen since Friday. I found it hard to push the car to the limit and on a street circuit this makes it even more of a struggle to put everything together, especially over a qualifying lap. Tonight we will analyse all the data carefully to understand what we can do for the race, to try and bring home the best possible result on a track where overtaking is very difficult.”
Lewis Hamilton, 6th, 1:29.688
“There was potential in the car today, but the session didn’t run smoothly for us and we just didn’t have the pace when it counted. It’s disappointing not to be further up because the balance has felt good for most of the weekend. We struggled to get the tyres into the right window towards the end and that limited what we could do.
“Like most teams, we also didn’t get any long-run running in, so we’ll be going into the race with less information than we’d like. There’s more in the package than we showed today, and while overtaking here isn’t straightforward, it’s a long race and the target is to move forward.”
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
“A frustrating session, as Charles final Q3 lap was looking good until the final sector. We had a very strong pace on Friday morning, but after that, we didn’t manage to extract it from the car. The SF-25 is not easy to drive, it is really on the edge and our Q3 times were the same as in Q1.
“It was not easy to find the right approach with the tyres on the out-tlap to ensure they are in good shape at the beginning and the end of the flying lap. So it seems we did not progress in the right direction over the session.
“Tomorrow will be a different story on a track where it will not be easy to overtake so we will evaluate an aggressive approach also with the strategy.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Scuderia Ferrari prepares to drive during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Scuderia Ferrari prepares to drive during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Racing Bulls
Lawson started FP3 on the back foot having missed much of FP2 after his crash. But he pushed a little too hard, got on the kerbs and lost the rear, crashing heavily once again. The team did a brilliant job to rebuild his car again and get him out for pretty much the start of Qualifying, and he rewarded them with a Q2 berth despite his lack of lap time. Hadjar had impressed throughout the weekend and Qualifying was no exception. He made Q3 with ease and grabbed the ‘best of the rest’ slot with eighth.
Isack Hadjar, 8th, 1:29.846
“It was frustrating out there today. It’s nice that we finished again in Q3, but at the same time, we wasted the potential that was there. It was also the first time we made it to Q3 saving two new sets of Softs. I was pushing hard during my last lap in Qualifying and I felt like I was going for a special lap, but unfortunately, I made a mistake in turn 8, so I can only be annoyed at myself as the car worked really well. Looking at tomorrow, we’ll be starting P8 which sadly is on the dirty side of the grid. There are really fast cars ahead of us and overtaking is quite difficult on this track, but we’ll try our best to fight and bring home some points.”
Liam Lawson, 14th, 1:20.320
“The team have done an amazing job to get the car ready in time for Qualifying, I can’t thank them enough. I made it very difficult for myself by missing laps across two practices, however through Qualifying things were looking okay. I drove slower on the new tyre than I did on the used at the end, so it’s something we’ll need to look into. The car has felt fast, but it will be pretty tough to overtake tomorrow, so I’ll continue to work super hard to pull everything together for the race.”
Tim Goss, Chief Technical Officer
“An excellent Qualifying session from the team under the lights of Singapore today. The car worked well right from the start of the event, and our engineers have steadily built on this platform to adapt the car balance as the track gripped up, and to understand how to get the most out of the Soft compound tyre on the first Qualifying push lap. The mechanics did a fantastic job to rebuild Liam’s car in time for the start of Qualifying. Although Liam negotiated it out of Q1 reasonably comfortably, the lack of track time in the practice sessions put him at a slight disadvantage in the more competitive Q2 and he qualified 14th. Isack delivered on our first mission of the weekend and qualified in 8th ahead of all our main competitors in the Constructors Championship. It was a really close session, and had he put in the perfect lap, we felt we could have out-qualified the Ferrari’s ahead of us. This ambition is a measure of how much our car and the drivers have progressed, and it gives us good confidence for the race tomorrow.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Isack Hadjar of France and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls prepares to drive in the garage during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Isack Hadjar of France and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls prepares to drive in the garage during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
Haas
Contrasting fortunes for the two Haas drivers. Ocon was unhappy all day long, complaining about the overnight changes to his car and asking the team to reverse all of them in final practice. Whether Haas managed to do so remains to be seen, as the Frenchman then suffered a seatbelt issue in Qualifying. But Bearman put in some brilliant laps to make it all the way to Q3 for just the third time this season, winding up an impressive ninth.
Esteban Ocon, 19th, 1:30.989
“The car definitely had performance and the possibility to get into Q2 and Q3. It’s disappointing to have these issues – one with my belt which meant I couldn’t brake as it got stuck, and a yellow flag where I lost three tenths. You need to be able to nail those two laps, and we don’t seem to be able to catch a break currently. We’ll give it our best tomorrow to make it happen, as the car had great pace yesterday.”
Oliver Bearman, 9th, 1:29.868
“It’s nice to be back inside the top 10, it feels like a long time coming. We’ve had a few decent qualifying sessions that didn’t quite materialise, so this one is really nice, as so far as we’ve put together a good weekend. Qualifying was good, I had confidence with it, and it’s tight out there, so the lap I put together didn’t have a lot left in it. The margins are incredibly tight, and I hope we can consolidate some points from there tomorrow.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“It was a bit of a mixed result, but it’s extremely positive to get Ollie into Q3. We know we’ve had speed this weekend, the car has been quick, so we knew if we put everything right, we’d get into Q3. Ollie drove very well, and it was pretty tight out there, so it’s very satisfying. On Esteban’s side, he’s been on the pace all weekend, but we had a bit of a freak incident with his seatbelt in Q1, which destroyed his first lap. On his second lap, he was doing much better, close to Ollie’s pace, so Esteban should’ve been through but with the yellow flag, he lost three tenths and couldn’t recover. It’s frustrating but the positive thing is that he’s had the pace as well all weekend, just couldn’t convert in qualifying. With Ollie starting from P9, we’ll look to capitalise on that.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Ninth placed qualifier Oliver Bearman of Great Britain and Haas F1 looks on during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Ninth placed qualifier Oliver Bearman of Great Britain and Haas F1 looks on during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Aston Martin
Aston Martin’s pace faded in FP3, leaving their true pace a little unknown heading into Qualifying. Stroll exited at the first time of asking yet again, for the seventh time in the last nine Grands Prix. But Alonso found some serious pace to quietly avoid the chaos and make it all the way to Q3. He grabbed P10 for the team, and will be in the hunt for points tomorrow – especially if a DRS train forms, the Spaniard a specialist at making his car as wide as possible at street tracks.
Fernando Alonso, 10th, 1:29.955
“I was happy with the lap in Q3 and it was good we made it into the top ten, but we didn’t have the performance to do much more than that. We made some changes between sessions but overall, the car proved to be quite difficult to drive in FP3 and Qualifying. We are also starting on the dirty side of the grid, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow and hopefully battle for the points.”
Lance Stroll, 17th, 1:30.949
“Seems like one of those days where putting clean laps together felt difficult to achieve. I pushed on the second run in Qualifying and unfortunately locked up the front in sector three where I lost too much time. We will start from P17 tomorrow and see what we can do. The car has been feeling tricky to handle here all weekend so it could be a long and tough race for us.”
Andy Cowell, Team Principal
“As usual a very close grid here in Singapore with eight tenths covering the top ten. Our pace has been up and down through today and the car has been unpredictable, especially in the final sector. Both Fernando and Lance were suffering there in Q1 which stopped Lance progressing into Q2.
“We will do our homework tonight and we know races here in Singapore can be very unpredictable. P10 puts us in the thick of the midfield fight and we will do what we can to try and score some points tomorrow.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Fernando Alonso of Spain and Aston Martin F1 Team prepares to drive in the garage prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Fernando Alonso of Spain and Aston Martin F1 Team prepares to drive in the garage prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Kick Sauber
Hulkenberg has looked the pick of the two Kick Sauber drivers all weekend, and Qualifying was no exception. He made Q2 with ease and was unlikely to just be pipped, losing out on a chance to make the top 10 shootout by just over half a tenth. Bortoleto hasn’t quite looked on it here, often finding himself down the escape road as he struggled to judge the grip out on track. He exited in Q1 for the first time since Silverstone.
Nico Hulkenberg, 11th, 1:30.141
“I’m quite happy with today’s qualifying. My laps were tidy and showed good progression throughout. Starting from P11 isn’t a bad place, and we’ve got an extra set of soft tyres for tomorrow. With everyone going into the race a bit less prepared after yesterday’s red flags, when nobody was really able to perform proper long runs, there might be some surprises. As always, strategy will depend on how things unfold, but we’ll be pushing hard to make the most of it.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, 16th, 1:30.820
“It’s a real shame that we could not proceed to Q2, when we had the potential to easily progress. I was on a very good lap, good enough to make it through, when I had to lift for a yellow flag (for Pierre Gasly’s stricken car). Of course, you need to back off for safety reasons, but that costs you a few tenths straight away. Unfortunately, that meant the lap was gone, and we missed out by a very small margin. It’s disappointing, especially because we felt much better today than yesterday — FP3 was very positive, and I really believed we had the potential to do a good job in qualifying. But that’s racing; sometimes you’re the unlucky one who catches the flag.”
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal
“After a very hot and humid qualifying session here in Singapore, we can take some positives from today. For Gabi, finishing P16 on his first outing at this demanding circuit — without having had a completely clean run on new tyres until qualifying — is definitely encouraging. On the other side of the garage, Nico delivered a strong and composed session with clean laps, ending just 0.065 seconds off Q3. Starting P11, with an extra set of new soft tyres, he’s in a great position to fight for points tomorrow.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany driving the (27) Kick Sauber C45 Ferrari on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany driving the (27) Kick Sauber C45 Ferrari on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Alpine
Alpine looked to have slightly more pace here than they did in Baku, but it turned out not to be enough to compete once the other teams turned their engines up for Qualifying. Gasly’s Q1 ended with the Frenchman parking up down an escape road after what appeared to be a hydraulics issue. Colapinto could not advance to Q2 either, their car lacking pace in all areas at the moment.
Pierre Gasly, 20th, 1:31.261
“There is not much to say today as we did not manage to complete our final push lap with the stoppage on track at Turn 11. We had a suspected oil protection cut, which the team will investigate and understand. It is frustrating for all of us that we did not have the chance to finish the lap. It would have been tough to progress but probably close as it always is in Q1. It is a difficult one for all of us at the moment but we just have to push through it and move on to tomorrow. We will give it our best as we always do and see if we can give ourselves a chance in the race.”
Franco Colapinto, 18th, 1:30.982
“It’s obviously not the result we wanted to be out in Q1, but there are definitely some positives to take with how the car felt and how, as a team, we have been able to build the performance session by session. The car felt in a much better window, the best it has felt all weekend, and we were able to push and lean on the car more. So, in that sense we need to carry that feeling forward into the race tomorrow. I do feel we could have got more out of today and the timesheets are not necessarily reflective of the improvements we’ve made so far this weekend. Maybe we could have been a bit higher up on the grid with a better final run in Q1 without a couple of cars in the wrong place, which might have impacted some car performance. This is a long race and can sometimes be a race of attrition with overtaking also quite difficult, so we need to look into how we make the most from the strategy and try our best to make progress from our starting position.”
Steve Nielsen, Managing Director
“Looking at the end result in Qualifying, ultimately, we knew it would be an uphill task to make it out of Q1 given our level of performance across Free Practice. There were certain factors coming into play during the session and perhaps we could have achieved better positions with both cars and make a challenge for Q2. Pierre had an oil protection cut, which effectively shut down the power unit on his final push lap and he stopped on track as a result. Franco was looking competitive and hit some traffic, which might have contributed to him not improving on his final push lap. On a track which is tough for overtaking, we are in for a challenging Sunday evening. That said, as we have seen at some events this year, anything is possible in racing and we will aim to put both cars in a competitive position.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A525 Renault makes a pitstop during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A525 Renault makes a pitstop during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Williams
Sainz finished in the top 10 in final practice, to raise hopes of a strong Qualifying for Williams. But their evening unravelled in Singapore. First the Spaniard tangled with Antonelli in Q1, with Albon scraping through to Q2 in 15th place. Then both exited, neither seemingly able to find much pace on a day where three midfield teams made the top 10. But worse was to come with the announcement that the cars had failed post-Qualifying checks relating to the DRS, leading to a double disqualification.
James Vowles, Team Principal
“During FIA scrutineering after Qualifying, the rear wings on both our cars failed DRS slot gap checks. As a result, Alex and Carlos have been disqualified from Qualifying for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix. This is bitterly disappointing for the team and we are urgently investigating how this happened.
“At no point were we seeking a performance advantage and the rear wings had passed our own checks earlier in the day, but there is only one measurement that matters and we fully accept the FIA ruling. We have a car capable of scoring points here this weekend and will do everything we can to fight from the back of the grid tomorrow, and will immediately review our processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Gallery2SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Thirteenth placed qualifier Carlos Sainz of Spain and Williams looks on in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 04: Thirteenth placed qualifier Carlos Sainz of Spain and Williams looks on in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 04, 2025 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
Pirelli
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director
“A very closely contested qualifying session, with Mercedes particularly brilliant taking a possibly surprising but absolutely well-deserved pole with Russell. It was interesting to see a remarkable balance across all three segments of qualifying: 15 drivers within eight-tenths in Q1, ten within less than half a second in Q2, and the top ten all in under 1’30” in Q3. Russell’s pole was a record, 367 thousandths quicker than last year although in line with our pre-event simulations. Today the track improved significantly during FP3 and at the start of qualifying, then stabilised in the final stages. The C5 offered a good level of performance even on the second or third timed lap, and even more so on an actual second attempt.
“We know how crucial qualifying is on this circuit, as seen from the fact that in the fifteen races held here so far, the winner has started from the front row on all but three occasions. Tomorrow we will most likely see a one-stop race, although the increase in pit-lane speed, from 60 to 80 km/h, makes a two-stop slightly more appealing, especially if there was to be a safety car or the opening of a clean-air window during the race.
“I believe all three compounds could be used tomorrow evening. Everyone has one set of Mediums and one of Hards, but the Soft could also play a role, either at the start or at the end of the race. The greater grip offered by the C5 could be exploited at the start to gain vital positions on a track where overtaking is always difficult, although now less so than in the past.”
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