Carlos Sainz clinches pole for Ferrari at 2023 Singapore GP

Saturday evening's (16 September 2023) qualifying sessions for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix saw no shortage of drama and action, as Ferrari kept up its impressive pace from the free practice sessions, while current leaders, Red Bull, found themselves unable to push past the middle of the pack. 

With all drivers starting on soft compounds on a very dry track, Q1 saw both Alfa Romeo drivers, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas falling to the bottom. McLaren and Williams drivers, Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant respectively, also struggled with pace as they took to the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the first time - each, in their inaugural Formula One seasons - and failed to progress to Q2.

Both of Alfa Romeo's drivers appeared to be struggling with pace, and were unable to progress to Q2 

The section also concluded on a rather eventful (and momentarily worrying) note as Aston Martin driver, Lance Stroll, lost control of his vehicle while navigating the final corner. The impact was so great it sent the Canadian driver's AMR23 car spinning for a few seconds, and even lopped off its left front wheel while scattering debris into the air and all over the track. Stroll thankfully walked away looking relatively unscathed; a Red Flag was immediately called into action, concluding the session.

As Q2 began, Alpha Tauri driver, Yuki Tsunoda was made to retire even before he managed to set a lap time after what appeared to be an incident with Red Bull driver (and reigning world champion), Max Verstappen. The move was seen as particularly surprising considering the 23-year old driver had actually clocked the fastest lap - of just 1:31.991 - in Q1.

Right before he retired in Q2, Yuku Tsunoda had actually clocked the fastest lap during Q1

Speaking of Verstappen, the runaway front-runner for the 2023 World Driver's Championship (WDC) was ultimately unable to muscle out of the midfield, and wound up narrowly missing the Top 10 by ending at the 11^th position. The Dutch driver also found himself facing multiple potential investigations by the end of Saturday night - including a pit exit incident in Q1, and for impeding Tsunoda in Q2.

Fellow Red Bull team-mate, Sergio Perez, who finished in 13^th position, was also unable to progress forward towards Q3. (Perez took the trophy home in last year's Singapore GP.) The disappointing performance from both drivers brought Red Bull's hopes of starting ahead on race day quickly to a screeching halt. Sandwiched between them was Alpine driver, Pierre Gasly, at 12^th, while Williams driver, Alexander Albon, was 14^th.

As for who denied Verstappen a shot at the top, you might want to turn your attention to one of Saturday night's most luminous stars was Alpha Tauri driver, Liam Lawson, who is not only also racing in Singapore for the first time, but now officially entering only his third official Formula One weekend. Standing in currently for an injured Daniel Ricciardo, the Kiwi is the first driver from the team to make it into Q3 thus far in the AT04 car. Lawson ultimately finished in 10^th.

Ferrari has maintained its commendable pace through Friday and Saturday, with Carlos Sainz now attaining pole position, and Charles Leclerc set to start third

The Haas team also turned in relatively strong performances in qualifying, with Nico Hulkenberg finishing ninth, and Kevin Magnussen finishing sixth. But the undeniable winner of Saturday evening was Ferrari, who saw Carlos Sainz continuing his remarkably strong showing through Friday and Saturday's free practice sessions to clinch pole position. Sainz also took honours for the fastest lap of the evening with a timing of 1:30.984.

Right down to the last few moments, it had appeared that Ferrari would be locking out the front row for Sunday in red. As things came down to the wire, however, Mercedes driver George Russell turned in a rapid lap of 1:31.056 - thus superseding Charles Leclerc by a mere 0.007 of a second to earn a spot at the front alongside Sainz. McLaren driver, Lando Norris, is fourth behind Leclerc, followed by seven-time WDC champion, Lewis Hamilton, in fifth.

George Russell made an impressive dash for second position on Sunday night’s grid right as Q3 was about to conclude

If you're looking at last year's qualifying timings and wondering why those this year are much quicker, it's worth pointing out again that the Marina Bay Street Circuit has been shortened due to ongoing renovation of the Floating Platform. (Its length now stands at 4.94km, against last year's 5.06km.)

As a result, the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix is set to have 62 laps this year - one more than in 2022. 

Stay tuned for the results tomorrow!

*Timing clocked in Q1