SINGAPORE. – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday after a furious Max Verstappen was forced to abandon his fastest lap for fear of running out of fuel.
The Monegasque lapped the five-km Marina Bay track under the floodlights in one minute 49.412 seconds but was set to be usurped by his Red Bull rival.
Verstappen was lighting up the timing screens behind Leclerc and, having traded fastest laps with the Ferrari driver and Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton during the final phase of qualifying, had saved his best for last on a drying track.
But the Dutchman was forced to settle for eighth on the grid after Red Bull ordered him to abort his pole shot in a major blow to his hopes of wrapping up a second successive title on Sunday with five races to spare.
“It has been a very, very tricky qualifying,” said Leclerc, who will have Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez alongside him on the front row instead.
“I did a mistake on my last lap, so I didn’t think I’d get pole.”
Leclerc earned his ninth pole of the season and the 18th of his career.
The 24-year-old also started on pole the last time Formula One visited Singapore in 2019, finishing second behind then teammate Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari one-two.
