Oscar Piastri admitted McLaren had been “shocked” to not be extra aggressive in Singapore.
His staff mate Lando Norris gained final yr’s race from pole place at a canter. However the change in grip ranges at a number of components of the monitor this yr, owing to partial resurfacing, appeared to catch McLaren out.
Because of this, although virtually each staff lapped the circuit quicker than they did final yr, McLaren gained virtually no time year-on-year.
Change from observe to qualifying
George Russell’s pole place ranks as one of many surprises of the season. Mercedes’ tempo was well-hidden on Friday, partly as a result of Russell crashing earlier than he may do a qualifying simulation run. By the top of qualifying they had been virtually three seconds faster than the day earlier than.
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Sector occasions
Max Verstappen regarded just like the favorite for pole place earlier in qualifying. His staff informed him his first laps in Q1 and Q2 had been fast sufficient to safe a spot on the subsequent stage, which ensured he stored a full inventory of contemporary tender tyres.
Nonetheless Russell was faster than him in Q2 – by a hundredth of a second – and Q3. Verstappen felt he may have crushed Russell to pole place if he hadn’t been delayed by Lando Norris on the finish of his lap, however there’s a superb likelihood Russell’s benefit by the primary two sectors would nonetheless have proved decisive.
P.
#
Driver
S1
S2
S3
Final lap (deficit)
1
63
George Russell
26.415 (1)
37.329 (1)
25.284 (2)
1’29.028 (+0.130)
2
1
Max Verstappen
26.512 (3)
37.419 (3)
25.220 (1)
1’29.151 (+0.189)
3
12
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
26.482 (2)
37.413 (2)
25.442 (10)
1’29.337 (+0.200)
4
4
Lando Norris
26.629 (6)
37.451 (4)
25.332 (4)
1’29.412 (+0.174)
5
81
Oscar Piastri
26.556 (4)
37.609 (6)
25.359 (8)
1’29.524
6
44
Lewis Hamilton
26.716 (9)
37.592 (5)
25.285 (3)
1’29.593 (+0.095)
7
16
Charles Leclerc
26.667 (7)
37.642 (7)
25.333 (5)
1’29.642 (+0.142)
8
6
Isack Hadjar
26.610 (5)
37.710 (8)
25.412 (9)
1’29.732 (+0.114)
9
87
Oliver Bearman
26.703 (8)
37.824 (10)
25.341 (6)
1’29.868
10
14
Fernando Alonso
26.737 (12)
37.812 (9)
25.345 (7)
1’29.894 (+0.061)
11
27
Nico Hulkenberg
26.721 (10)
37.864 (11)
25.533 (14)
1’30.118 (+0.023)
12
23
Alexander Albon
26.726 (11)
38.020 (15)
25.456 (11)
1’30.202
13
55
Carlos Sainz Jnr
26.806 (14)
37.945 (14)
25.477 (13)
1’30.228 (+0.007)
14
22
Yuki Tsunoda
26.841 (15)
37.935 (13)
25.468 (12)
1’30.244 (+0.109)
15
30
Liam Lawson
26.852 (16)
37.903 (12)
25.553 (15)
1’30.308 (+0.012)
16
18
Lance Stroll
26.911 (18)
38.102 (16)
25.699 (18)
1’30.712 (+0.237)
17
5
Gabriel Bortoleto
26.952 (20)
38.250 (18)
25.618 (17)
1’30.820
18
31
Esteban Ocon
26.931 (19)
38.352 (19)
25.593 (16)
1’30.876 (+0.113)
19
43
Franco Colapinto
26.776 (13)
38.248 (17)
25.885 (20)
1’30.909 (+0.073)
20
10
Pierre Gasly
26.875 (17)
38.521 (20)
25.718 (19)
1’31.114 (+0.147)
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Groups’ efficiency
Solely Alpine lapped extra slowly round Singapore than they did 12 months in the past. Nonetheless Pierre Gasly’s lack of energy in Q1 clearly compromised their potential.
McLaren’s end result was extra baffling, nevertheless. Piastri’s 1’29.524, simply one-thousandth of a second quicker than his staff mate’s pole-winning time of final yr, left them the third-fastest staff.
“My first lap of Q3 felt affordable,” he mentioned afterwards. “It definitely didn’t really feel ‘4 tenths off’ dangerous. So I simply don’t suppose we had the tempo tonight, which is a little bit little bit of a shock for us.”
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Subject efficiency
Russell set two laps fast sufficient for pole place and lowered the all-time document for the Singapore circuit to 1’29.158. That’s over 15 seconds quicker than the primary pole place time at this monitor in 2008. Not solely have the vehicles turn out to be faster since then, however 4 corners have additionally been faraway from the monitor configuration in 2023. The present configuration is probably going for use once more subsequent yr as development work continues on the waterfront.
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