Singapore GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen claims pole position again as Charles Leclerc pips Lewis Hamilton to second on grid

Lewis Hamilton had looked the favourite to deliver his first Grand Prix pole for Ferrari after topping the first two stages of qualifying but Red Bull rival Verstappen, who had won the day's earlier rain-hit Sprint having started first, seized the initiative in the first runs of Q3.

Hamilton was a provisional second after the first laps but could not improve on his second attempt, and was then knocked off the front row to third by team-mate Charles Leclerc, who had experienced a low-key session up to then.

It meant Verstappen did not need to improve on his final lap, which he did not anyway, and he secured a milestone 50th Grand Prix pole, but his first in Singapore on his 10th visit to the Marina Bay street circuit.

The four-time world champion will now bid to win the race for the first time on Sunday, live on Sky Sports F1 at 1pm, and secure back-to-back victories after triumphing in Malaysia last week.

The battle for pole ultimately proved an exclusive Verstappen versus Ferrari affair under the circuit's floodlights, with neither championship leaders Mercedes nor reigning champions McLaren truly in the mix.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli got closest to the front but qualified fourth after abandoning his final attempt. It still represented a three-place improvement on where he started the Sprint in the sole Mercedes car still carrying their upgrades.

Team-mate George Russell, who crashed out from the lead of the Sprint in the wet, was sixth but always knew he would drop to the back of Sunday's grid whatever he did in main qualifying due to a large engine-change penalty.

After colliding on the final lap in the Sprint, McLaren team-mates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took fifth and seventh respectively. Russell's penalty means they will start together on the third row.

Red Bull's day was not perfect, however, as gearbox issues on Isack Hadjar's car in Q1 prevented him from setting a lap time and means he will join the penalised Russell at the back of the grid at a Marina Bay street circuit that is very difficult to overtake on.

Hadjar's early demise offered the chance for the midfield runners to gain ground and Pierre Gasly beat the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad to the eighth-fastest time of Q3, which becomes seventh on the grid.

Nico Hulkenberg just missed out on Q3 for Audi but will start 10th owing to Russell's penalty.

Verstappen finally claims Singapore GP pole as Hamilton rues 'snapping'

Aside from the new Madring, where F1 raced for the first time last month and he finished second, Singapore is the one track on the calendar that Verstappen has not won at.

He qualified and finished second at Marina Bay in each of the last two seasons but has enjoyed an almost perfect weekend so far with a pole-victory double in the Sprint, having set himself up well for the event's most-important qualifying session.

Yet it had appeared to be Hamilton who was favourite for the more important Grand Prix pole on Saturday evening, the Ferrari driver revelling in his own groove around the wall-lined street track to top Q1 and Q2.

But Verstappen, not for the first time, upped the ante in the final phase and held provisional pole after the first runs from Hamilton thanks to a best opening lap 1:31.373. Hamilton lapped 0.123s slower, with Antonelli third and Leclerc only fourth at that stage.

And while the order changed behind him on the final runs, Verstappen's opening time could not be beaten.

"The margins are very close between us throughout qualifying," said the Dutchman, whose final pole advantage over Leclerc was 0.054s.

"Of course, very happy to be on pole because this is the one I wanted. Very happy.

"The car has been pretty strong all weekend. There are always things that can be better but it was enough for pole, so very happy with that."

Hamilton, who had been targeting at least back-to-back front rows after qualifying second to Verstappen last week in Sepang, was left to rue a "snappy" Ferrari after only fractionally improving on his pace-setting Q2 time with his first Q3 attempt and then failing to improve on his second.

"Q1 and Q2 we were awesome. We got to Q3 and I snapped into Turn One, Three and was two tenths down. The rest of the lap was good," he said.

"And the last lap I just struggled with snapping. There's a real fine line with our car where it's over the edge or under the limit.

"Finding that sweet spot is very difficult. I probably had it in the first two [sessions] but you have to look to the progress of the track, the grip coming up and you have to kind of react to that.

"With hindsight maybe I shouldn't have, so it wasn't great enough with myself."

Sunday October 11 11.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Singapore GP build-up 1pm: THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX 3pm: Chequered Flag: Singapore GP reaction 4pm: Ted's Notebook

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