Verstappen takes first Singapore pole and 50th of his F1 career
The Red Bull driver also won Singapore’s inaugural sprint race, while Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified second and third.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen recorded a lap of 1min 31.373sec to lead qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix on Oct 10, 2026. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished 0.054sec behind him at the 4.927km Marina Bay Street Circuit, with Lewis Hamilton taking third after leading Q1 and Q2.
The result gave Verstappen his first pole in Singapore and brought his career tally to 50. Earlier on Oct 10, he won the city’s inaugural sprint race in wet conditions. He said the car had performed strongly throughout the weekend, although there were still areas to improve.
Mercedes’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. George Russell was sixth but will start at the back following a grid penalty. Oscar Piastri, Norris’s McLaren teammate, qualified seventh.
The Oct 11 grand prix will mark Verstappen’s 250th race start. He has not won the Singapore race in nine attempts, having finished second in both 2024 and 2025. After the sprint, he said his priority remained winning the grand prix rather than treating the shorter race as a Singapore victory.
Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings on 325 points, with Russell 89 points behind and Hamilton a further 15 points back in third. Verstappen occupies fifth place with 196 points.
