George Russell on pole for F1''''s Singapore Grand Prix as Verstappen beats McLarens

George Russell took pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix as Max Verstappen got the better of his Formula 1 title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Russell had crashed in Friday practice but turned it around in style as he was 0.182 of a second faster than Verstappen in Saturday's qualifying session despite clipping the wall. Verstappen has the momentum in the F1 title fight after winning the last two races, while McLaren again seems off the pace.

Standings leader Piastri qualified third, .366 off Russell's pace, with his McLaren teammate Norris fifth.

It's the second pole position of the year for Russell and the first for him and the Mercedes team since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, which he went on to win.

"We certainly didn't anticipate to be fighting for a pole position here," Russell said, adding that he was surprised McLaren was slower than expected.

Pole position is a big advantage in Singapore, where overtaking is difficult. However, Russell has previously struggled in Singapore, where he has a best finish of fourth. He crashed on the last lap while fighting for the podium places at the 2023 edition.

Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth, one place ahead of his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, after he escaped a potential grid penalty for an incident in practice.

Stewards investigated whether the seven-time champion went too fast under a red flag. They said Hamilton's driving wasn't unsafe or against the rules, though "a greater reduction of speed would have been desirable.'' The pressure on Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull could increase after he qualified 15th.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)