As it happened: 2024 Singapore Grand Prix qualifying

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Here’s the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix grid and our full report from the session. Lots more to come at RaceFans.

Hamilton splits the McLarens for second. Verstappen takes it off him, two tenths of a second off Norris. Russell goes third and Leclerc’s time is deleted, completing a miserable Q3 for Ferrari.

Good first sectors for Hamilton and Verstappen – can either beat Norris? Hamilton’s middle sector time isn’t great. Leclerc goes fourth.

Norris doesn’t improve in the frist sector – where he was fastest before – but he is quicker in the middle of the lap. Piastri does a 1’29.953, Norris responds with a 1’29.525, four tenths up on his team mate.

The stewards have noted a potential unsafe release involving Fernando Alonso.

The session has resumed. McLaren send their cars out first, Piastri ahead of Norris. Norris asked: “Why don’t we just go first?”

The session is about to resume. The stewards have noted that Sainz crossed the track on foot after his crash.

Sainz: “Yeah the main thing was cold tyres. Dirty air. Big snap.”

Verstappen: “Why did my lap time get deleted. I crossed before it was red?”
Lambiase: “We’re looking into it.”

Drivers who were on fresh tyres for their first runs: Piastri, Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, Russell, Sainz.

Times under red flag:
1. Oscar Piastri: 1’30.037
2. Nico Hulkenberg: 1’30.848

Verstappen’s time has been deleted. It’s likely that he’s done nothing wrong there and won’t attract a penalty, there’s no indication yet he’s under investigation.

Sainz has crashed! He had to let Piastri through as he was opening his lap and spun off backwards at the final corner. Only Verstappen, Piastri and Hulkenberg have set times, but it looks like Verstappen was in a double yellow zone so he may lose his time.

Q3 has begun and the first driver onto the track is Nico Hulkenberg. Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris follow.

Out in Q2:
11. Alexander Albon: 1’30.474
12. Franco Colapinto: 1’30.481
13. Sergio Perez: 1’30.579
14. Kevin Magnussen: 1’30.653
15. Esteban Ocon: 1’30.769

Colapinto fails to made the cut, Albon is eliminated by Tsunoda. Perez is out! He’s 13th.

Piastri beats Verstappen by four-hundredths of a second. Leclerc goes a tenth off the McLaren. Alonso squeezes into 10th which puts Perez in the drop zone.

Russell has decided to use old tyres for his final run. Magnussen has fallen into the drop zone.

Four minutes to go. Verstappen is out early to minimise the possibility of failing to reach Q3. He’s on a new set of tyres but not fastest in the first sector. He is in sector two, however, and keeps it clear at the end of the lap to go fastest, 1’29.680.

Russell still not happy. “Man I’m still really struggling out here. Don’t know where all the grip has gone since practice. Do we need to do a new again? Looks like the track has plateaued.”

Hamilton pulls off a surprise with a 1’29.929 to go fastest. Russell jumps up to third as well, 0.224s off his team mate.

Albon, 11th, is also unhappy with his tyres. “What are we doing with the tyres? Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

Norris goes top with a 1’30.007, 0.282s up on Leclerc, followed by Piastri, Hulkenberg and Tsunoda.

How well did that work for Perez? He sets a 1’30.653. Verstappen goes three-tenths quicker but runs wide at the final corner and his lap time is deleted. Verstappen was on used rubber, Perez new.

Q2 begins. “What is going on?” asked Perez as he joins the track early on. “This is the best for our out-lap,” replied race engineer Richard Wood. “We can do what we want here.”

Verstappen was unhappy with other drivers getting in his way during that session: “Unbelievable. Bunch of idiots, man. They are in the way everywhere.”

Russell: “I mean, I don’t understand these bloody tyres. I don’t understand how we lose eight tenths one session to the next. So different.”

Gasly can’t get out of the bottom five – Ocon slips to 15th but he’s safe. Ricciardo is out in Q1. Stroll joins him as do to two Saubers.

Russell: “I’ve got no fucking grip, mate, totally different to FP3. Totally different. These tyres are so different.”

The McLaren drivers used old tyres for that run but Verstappen puts a new set on – and doesn’t beat Norris. He’s second, 0.155s.

Alexander Albon briefly goes quickest, then the McLaren pair beat him, Norris on top again with a 1’30.002.

Drop zones with five minutes to go:
16. Pierre Gasly: 1’31.724
17. Valtteri Bottas: 1’32.058
18. Zhou Guanyu: 1’32.514
19. Franco Colapinto: 1’32.559
20. Lance Stroll: 1’32.588

Verstappen impressively caught a high-speed twitch of oversteer. Norris has returned to the track on the set of soft tyres he ran earlier.

Hamilton reports “the rear is sliding around a lot.” Nico Hulkenberg pops up into fifth with a 1’60.985 so it looks like the track is still improving quite a lot.

Verstappen looking a lot quicker than his team mate. He’s fastest of all in sector one and jumps up to second overall, 0.13s off Norris.

Sainz did not rejoin the track correctly when he went off at turn one – he did not go around the bollard at turn three – which the stewards have noted.

Carlos Sainz Jnr abandoned his first lap after going off at turn one. At his second attempt he produces a 1’30.988 for fourth. Lando Norris is now on top with a 1’30.724 but less than three-tenths covers all the McLarens and Ferraris.

Ocon puts up the first time: 1’32.635. Gasly three-tenths off, Zhou almost a second slower. Leclerc fires in a 1’30.896 and Sergio Perez goes seven-tenths slower. The Red Bull driver was only 15th in practice and neither he nor Max Verstappen reached Q3 at this track last year.

Ferrari waste no time sending their drivers out but Leclerc complains he’s not getting the right information on his dash.

Qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix is go. Esteban Ocon and Zhou Guanyu head out first – and based on practice both face a challenge to make it into Q2.

Ferrari have been fined €5,000 (£4,190) for failing to follow the required procedure for adjusting the tyre pressures on Charles Leclerc’s car during final practice.

With half an hour to go until qualifying begins we’re awaiting the stewards’ verdict on a potential infringement by Ferrari on Charles Leclerc’s car. The summons indicated the team violated a technical directive with a tyre pressure adjustment it made in final practice. It’s the kind of thing which is unlikely to attract a sporting penalty, but we’ll see what they say.

Lando Norris had things all his own way in final practice, where George Russell was the only driver who managed to get within seven-tenths of a second of the McLaren. But that session was held in much hotter conditions. As track temperatures fall, expect McLarens rivals to get on terms with them. Ferrari were in great shape yesterday, and it remains to be seen whether Red Bull or Mercedes might pull off a surprise.

With the exception of Monaco, there may be no other track on the Formula 1 calendar where grid position is as important as it is in Singapore. Perhaps that will turn out not to be the case this year, as a fourth DRS zone has been added to the circuit which could make passing easier, but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find that out. But even if it does shift the probably of making a pass from ‘extremely difficult’ to merely ‘very difficult’, a strong starting position is still going to be extremely important.

Qualifying for the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix is coming up next.

2024 Singapore Grand Prix

• Ricciardo’s brake woe and why Perez thought he had an engine problem: Singapore GP radio
• ‘Perez is only quicker when he has DRS’: How Hulkenberg’s Haas beat a Red Bull – again
• Mercedes explain “clear mistake” strategy call which left Hamilton “so angry”
• “Sometimes I wonder why I do this”: How Hamilton endured a slog to sixth in Singapore
• F1’s rules need surgery as well as sticking plaster after fastest lap controversy