Verstappen on sprint pole after another settings issue

Max Verstappen claimed sprint pole at the Singapore Grand Prix, finishing 0.12 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell. The victory came shortly after Verstappen and Red Bull secured their first win of the season in Malaysia the previous weekend. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari rounded out the top three. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took fourth and fifth places, respectively, positioning themselves ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton had qualified second early in the final session but dropped in the order after Leclerc moved ahead of him. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who was using the upgrade package that underperformed in Malaysia while Russell remained on the older specification, managed only seventh place. The session was affected by a technical issue involving the motor settings supplied by the FIA. Five days after the wet practice laps in Malaysia, a bundle bug caused cars to run at crawling speeds. This problem coincided with a glitch in the F1 timing system that delayed the start of second qualifying, although the overall running order remained unchanged. Nevertheless, the settings differed before and after a red flag prompted by a crash involving Sergio Perez’s Cadillac, with several drivers reporting a loss of power. The fault also caused the overtake mode—which permits an additional 0.5MJ of energy to be harvested—to be switched on and off repeatedly within a span of 28 seconds. The FIA has been contacted for comment but has not yet supplied an explanation. Read the full story at BBC News →