For Leclerc, it is the first time that a driver has had a chance to win three consecutive Grand Prix in addition to nabbing the same number of pole positions.
MARINA BAY CIRCUIT—Singapore—September 21st—It looked like his long losing streak would end. Sebastian Vettel had just run a hot lap. Early in the final session of qualifying for Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, the German seemed like he would grab his second pole of the season.
But his Saturday evening was short-lived.
Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc ran a 1:36:217 fastest time, taking his third pole in a row. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton also bettered Vettel’s best lap to take second. Vettel, a four-time world champion, finished third.
Vettel attempted to better his time, but too many errors on the final lap vanquished that quest. “The final one should’ve been better, but overall the car was making sense feeling good,” he said. “Maybe I peaked a bit early. We had a tiny wobble [on his second run], and there was no point in finishing that lap. It puts us in a good position tomorrow. It should be a good race, let’s see what the tires are going to do if we can push for the two hours or will we have to manage them.”
For Leclerc, his strong finish came as a surprise. Before this weekend, he figured that both Ferraris’ wouldn’t do well. “I’m extremely happy about today,” Leclerc commented. “It was a very good lap, but there were some moments when I thought I had lost the car, but I took it back…. We came here knowing it would be a difficult track for us, but we brought the package we needed. We brought some new bits that worked properly, which is not always the case and was good to see.”
For Mercedes, Hamilton realized that taking second was good enough to assist in his battle with teammate Valtteri Bottas for the world championship.
Dani Kvyat was alongside American Haas F1 team’s Romain Grosjean, who exited qualifying early, along with Grosjean’s Haas teammate, Kevin Magnussen. Sergio Perez and the two Alfas, Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, also exited with Magnussen in the second session.
For the rest of the top ten, Max Verstappen took fourth in his Red Bull. Bottas finished fifth and the second Red Bull of Alexander Albon took sixth. The battle for fourth in the world championship continued with the McLaren-powered Renaults of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris finishing seventh and tenth, respectively. The Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg took eighth and ninth, respectively.
For Leclerc, Saturday’s work brought enormous success. It’s the first time that a driver has had a chance to win three consecutive Grand Prix in addition to nabbing the same number of pole positions.
