POLE, BUT RUSSELL NOT CARRIED AWAY

Mercedes driver is quickest in qualifying, but wary of second-placed Verstappen

- Deepanraj Ganesan

The Marina Bay Street Circuit does not hold the fondest memories for Mercedes’ George Russell.

It was here at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, where a mistake on the final lap saw the Briton, who was third at the time, clip the wall and crash into the barriers.

After the second practice session on Oct 3, it was shaping up to be another Formula One weekend to forget for Russell, when he crashed into the wall at Turn 16, leading to the weekend's first red flag.

The crash caused a tyre puncture and damaged the front wing of his car, ruling the 27-year-old out of the rest of the session.

But on Oct 4, Russell took a step closer to exorcising his demons here.

Fending off McLaren’s championship-leading duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, as well as Red Bull’s resurgent Max Verstappen, Russell pulled off a surprise by topping the timesheets in qualifying for the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix.

He was quickest in 1min 29.158sec, with Verstappen 0.182sec behind him and Piastri 0.366sec adrift.

Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli and Norris, the defending Singapore GP champion, will start from fourth and fifth respectively on the grid. Ferrari wound up sixth and seventh, via Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc respectively.