Qualifying is done and the stage for the Singapore GP is set. Coming into the weekend, it was all about Lando Norris and Max Verstappen for the Championship fight. Their qualifying performance has set the stage for a very exciting race on Sunday.
Lando Norris will start the Singapore GP in Pole Position while Max Verstappen will start 2nd, right alongside him. This has fans excited for the epic Championship battle between the two drivers. Norris is still 59 points behind the Dutch driver. But with 7 Grand Prix races and 3 Sprint Races still to go, anything can happen.
Lando Norris unhappy with lap that earned him pole position
After the qualifying session, McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella explained how Lando was not happy with his final lap after he completed it as he had made mistakes. But despite making mistakes, he beat Max Verstappen by 2 tenths of a second.
“It was stressful for everyone, it wasn’t one of the cleanest laps for Lando” Andrea Stella said. “he came on the radio and said ‘oh I made some mistakes’ and normally when he says that, he’s quick. He’s been quick every session so he deserves that, we could have been higher with Oscar as well so we need to look as to why but still, a strong performance for McLaren.”
LANDO NORRIS TAKES POLE ON THE STREETS OF SINGAPORE!!#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/hUFvLa7F58
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) September 21, 2024
Both the McLarens have shown pace throughout the practice session. Unfortunately, Piastri was not able to qualify in the top 5 in Q3. He only managed to qualify 5th where he will start behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
But there is no doubt that the momentum is with McLaren at the moment. Just last race, the team took the lead for the Constructors’ Championship by 20 points thanks to Piastri’s race win. So we know what the Australian driver is capable of.
Max Verstappen happy to qualify 2nd after poor practice sessions
While Max Verstappen did qualify 2nd for the Singapore GP, his pace during the practice sessions yesterday was extremely disappointing. He finished P4 in FP1, P15 in FP2, and P4 again in FP3. With these results in practice, Verstappen would not be expecting such a positive turnaround during qualifying. After parking the car at Parc Ferme, he said:
“I think the whole of qualifying went quite well, we managed to improve the car run after run. I’m happy to be on the front row when you look at where we were yesterday. I’ll take second, I’m happy with that.”
We’re in for a wet weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit as rain is expected to torment the drivers during the Singapore GP!#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/3tqDhTekxJ
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) September 20, 2024
Heading into the Singapore GP, Verstappen will give it everything he possibly to take the lead off the start. Let’s not forget that Lando Norris has never lead after the first lap after qualifying in Pole Position. But let’s also not forget that Max Verstappen has never won the Singapore GP.
So it’s all to play for tomorrow. Looking at how the teams and drivers are performing at the moment, there is no telling which driver will take the race win. Given that it is a street race as well, anything can happen. We could even see Piastri or a surprise driver take the win.
What are your predictions for the Singapore GP? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
