A little later, hardly anyone in the paddock was talking about Lando Norris racing to pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix. The McLaren driver set the best time on the Marina Bay Street Circuit under floodlights on Saturday evening (local time), needing 1:29.525 minutes for the 4.94 kilometer long harbor tour in the South Asian city-state. But the focus soon turned to Max Verstappen (Red Bull ). Not because of his second place, which the world champion achieved 0.2 seconds behind Norris and ahead of third-placed Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). But because of the next level of escalation that Verstappen initiated before the night race at the Equator this Sunday (2 p.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky) – in a dispute with the FIA, the world automobile association. “Why should I answer completely?” Verstappen could not escape the interview situation immediately after the end of the grid race. However, he then boycotted the official press conference with monosyllabic answers. Verstappen replied that he didn’t want to be punished again when the moderator asked him to give more detailed statements than just saying “yes”, “no”, “maybe”. Verstappen was protesting against the FIA. She told the Dutchman to do community service on Friday because he had used the word “fucked” during the press round on Thursday. Shortly before, FIA President Mohammed Bin Sulayem had asked the drivers to swear less. The penalty for Verstappen caused a lack of understanding among all other drivers. After the strange press conference after qualifying, Verstappen spoke to reporters on the way back to the paddock. “Of course I think it’s ridiculous what’s happening,” said Verstappen. “Then why should I give full answers?” He said the FIA wanted to make an example of him. Norris called the punishment for Verstappen “unfair”, Hamilton spoke of a “joke” and recommended that Verstappen not serve the punishment. “I,” said Hamilton, “certainly wouldn’t do it.” “They got faster and faster.” Norris’ next pole position fell into the background. “It was hard,” he said at the finish, “the guys around me were getting faster and faster, they were putting me under pressure.” But he stayed cool, the Brit continued. “The car feels good. If that’s the case, you can go out and push.” Verstappen said he was “happy to start on the front row.” And fight for victory? “Hard to say. A lot of things can happen in Singapore,” said the world champion. “But we’re trying.” External content from Twitter In order to display external content, your revocable consent is required. Personal data from third-party platforms (possibly USA) may be processed. More information. Activate external contentA good starting position is just as important on the narrow track in Singapore as it is in Monaco. On Sundays, the Saturday winner usually wins. Norris, however, has already started from the cheapest place six times in his career. Only once, recently in Zandvoort, was it enough to win. Each time he lost the lead after less than one lap. Especially since the race management designated an additional, fourth DRS zone in Singapore this year to encourage overtaking attempts. Sainz flies off and is lucky Before the fight for pole position broke out in the qualifying final, all the signals were suddenly red. Carlos Sainz lost control of his Ferrari at the start of the finish curve and hurled backwards into the barrier. “I don’t know if it was the cold tires or the air turbulence,” said the Spaniard, who was following Oscar Piastri on the track, on the radio. Before he got out uninjured, he reported a “big hit” that had hit him. Sainz, who won in Singapore last year, was very lucky when he left. At full speed, the left curve is driven through at 190 kilometers per hour. Sainz, on the other hand, was cruising at a crawl and preparing his first attempt at a fast lap. We swept for 15 minutes and repaired the track barrier, then we continued. And like a lizard on the track, minus a test lap to warm up the tires, there was enough time for a single attempt. McLaren hurried and sent Piastri and Norris off immediately. They submitted. Verstappen was the last to turn into the fast lane. Norris was more than 0.4 seconds ahead of his colleague, who made a mistake in the final section. Hamilton thought he was in second place, Verstappen countered at the last second. Piastri fell behind George Russell in the second Mercedes and starts fifth. Charles Leclerc only came in ninth in the second Ferrari. When things got serious in qualifying at the start of the first round and the traffic lights turned green, unlike a few hours earlier in the final practice session, not a lizard strayed onto the road. The daring reptile had caused a four-minute disruption. There were other reasons why the pilots still crept over the lizard-free course: just don’t burn out the tires on the warm-up lap, otherwise it would be over with a good time. Norris immediately put an exclamation mark, achieved the best time in all sectors, left Leclerc and Piastri behind him. While record world champion Hamilton complained on the radio about the nervous rear of his service Mercedes, Verstappen reported back. The Dutchman’s training performance had caused Red Bull great concern, as he was still panting after the top on Friday. Shocking moment for Verstappen Now he reduced the gap to Norris to just over a tenth of a second, seemed more powerful than expected, and set the second fastest time of the race to 18th Minutes scheduled first section. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and the two Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were eliminated. Australian Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls) also failed early in what was probably his last qualifying session in Formula 1 for the time being. According to reports, the eight-time Grand Prix winner is about to be dismissed early due to inadequate performance.More on the topicIn the second section, Verstappen survived a moment of shock. At the beginning of the target curve, in which Sainz was later hit, he hit a bump that tried to throw him off the track. The Dutchman intercepted his car virtuously and, unlike the Spaniard, prevented it from flying into the barrier. Nevertheless, it took him far beyond the limits and the race management canceled the lap time. His second shot was spot on. Sergio Pérez, his teammate, however, finished 13th and didn’t make it into the final for pole position. The Williams duo Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto also retired, as did Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Kevin Magnussen. His Haas teammate Nico Hülkenberg made it into the top ten at the last second and made people take notice with sixth place on the starting grid. Bernd Mayländer also has to prepare for a busy Sunday behind the wheel of his safety car. Because the slope is slippery and the barriers are unforgiving, accidents are inevitable. Since the circle driving scene came to Singapore, Bernd Mayländer has had to deploy the safety car every time. Sainz’s departure may have just been a foretaste. And not everything has been said in Verstappen’s dispute with the FIA.
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