2025 Singapore Qualifying Report – By Mark Gero
George Russell might not have signed his contract next season for Mercedes, but the Briton could convince his team to renew as the Briton took pole at the Marina Bay Circuit Saturday night for the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen in his Red Bull with a time of 1:29:158, with series leader Oscar Piastri the McLaren in third.
Russell took his best time right at the start of the final session and no other driver could match it as the seconds wound down.
“I had a difficult day yesterday for many reasons but it’s good to come back and get a good result today.” Said Russell. “I knew there was potential in the car.
When you’re on a really strong lap and you just touch the wall like that, you’re a little bit tentative going into the next corner.” added Russell about touching the wall on his opening lap of qualifying.
“You just don’t know if you’ve got a puncture or the car’s just going to spin out on you. And obviously it’s a very fast corner, but all good in the end.”
Kimi Antonelli, in the second Mercedes finally found his rhythm following many other races that have been troublesome and finished in fourth. For Piastri’s teammate and challenger for the world championship, Lando Norris, could do no better than fifth.
The two Ferrari’s of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc took sixth and seventh, with the Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar in eighth. Oliver Bearman had his third best final qualifying period, taking ninth, with the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso tenth.
For Russell, it is the first pole at this venue since Hamilton achieved it back in 2018 when the seven-time world champion was racing for this team. Now, with Russell, he will have to start Sunday night’s race with Verstappen next to him on the front row, which the Dutchman is trying to win his third consecutive race, to keep him in contention to take his fifth consecutive world title.
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