Q1

Qualifying began with Lewis Hamilton running wide on his first lap, which was deleted. The seven-time World Champion bounced back immediately, setting the fastest time of 1:29.765 on soft tyres. George Russell was just behind him in second, with Lando Norris in third. Max Verstappen was fourth, followed by Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar. Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, Oliver Bearman, and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top ten.

There were a few incidents as drivers struggled with track limits and yellow flags. Piastri’s first flying lap was affected by a yellow flag, frustrating the Australian, while Pierre Gasly suffered a bigger problem, ending up parked against the barriers with a hydraulics issue. His stoppage affected other drivers’ final laps.

Eliminated after Q1: Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly

Q2

Q2 was intense, with several early laps deleted for exceeding track limits, affecting Bearman, Antonelli, Hamilton, and Russell. Verstappen produced a confident early lap to go fastest on 1:29.747, just ahead of Piastri on used soft tyres. Antonelli then set an impressive lap, but Russell responded to go fastest overall, giving Mercedes a 1-2 in Q2. Verstappen’s final lap was enough to split the Mercedes drivers, while the McLarens of Norris and Piastri were fourth and fifth.

Ferrari made progress late in the session. Leclerc improved his lap to finish sixth, ensuring both Ferraris reached Q3, while Hamilton ended in seventh. Meanwhile, Alonso, Hadjar, and Bearman made up the remaining top ten.

Eliminated after Q2: Nico Hulkenberg, Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda

Q3

The last part of qualifying saw George Russell claim a confident pole position with a 1:29.158, even after brushing the wall at Turn 16. Max Verstappen was second, just 0.182 seconds behind, while Oscar Piastri secured third for McLaren. Kimi Antonelli was fourth, ahead of Lando Norris in fifth. Hamilton and Leclerc were sixth and seventh, with Isack Hadjar, Oliver Bearman, and Fernando Alonso completing the top ten.

The session had drama on the final runs. Verstappen was held up by Norris on track and couldn’t improve his lap. His race engineer jokingly said, “You can thank your mate for that,” suggesting Verstappen had been compromised McLaren's Lando Norris. Russell’s clean final lap confirmed Mercedes’ strong pace in Singapore.