Verstappen claimed pole for Singapore's sprint race with a blistering final lap, but the result hangs in the balance. Stewards are investigating whether he illegally passed Hamilton under yellow flags in SQ1—an infraction Verstappen himself flagged on team radio immediately after. If penalized, Russell inherits P1 after the Mercedes driver slotted into second, just 0.120s back.
The session was chaos. A timing system fault at the end of SQ1 left drivers guessing where they qualified, with "overtake enabled" messages flashing randomly. Perez binned it at turn five, shedding his front wing and scattering debris into turn eight. Through it all, Leclerc locked down third ahead of both McLarens. Mercedes rookie Antonelli could only manage seventh despite running the team's upgrade package.
The stewards' call will either validate Verstappen's latest front-row start or hand Russell a free pole before lights out.
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