Leclerc snatches pole from Perez by 0.022s in a wet-dry Singapore qualifying as Hamilton qualifies P3! 2022 Singapore GP Quali highlights
Charles Leclerc has sealed the pole position in the Singapore Grand Prix beating his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz and rival driver Sergo Perez by 0.022s. 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton gave a scintillating performance at the wet-dry qualifying session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit by securing his first P3 qualifying of 2022.
After the final practice faced rain, conditions saw a drastic improvement during the build-up to qualifying. Although Intermediates were featured in Q1 and Q2, slicks were fitted on all the cars for the fastest laps of the decisive Q3 phase. After the two day practice rounds, the pole position shootout was topped by Leclerc after he managed some late gains when the drivers put all they had with the support from the ever-improving grip levels. His 1m 49.412s was 0.022s ahead of Perez and 0.054s ahead of Hamilton.
Max Verstappen could not finish the final lap that may have led him to join the lot as he had to move into the pits on request by his Red Bull team that lead to a sweary radio message as the defending world champion settling for the eighth place. This comes amidst RedBull undergoing investigation for their potential overuse of the budget cap. Carlos Sainz ended on fourth with the second Ferrari. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, McLaren’s Lando Norris and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took advantage of Verstappen’s bad luck to bag positions five to seven. After Verstappen, Kevin Magnussen lead the Haas crew along with the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.
The second Mercedes driven by George Russell was one with a shocking fallout to the 11th position as it couldn’t match up to the one with Hamilton behind the wheel. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel found the second Haas of Mick Schumacher in between their timings in 12th and 14th respectively, while Zhou Guanyu finished 15th.
Valtteri Bottas couldn’t give his best performance in the first qualifying hurdle after Schumacher’s comeback cost his position dearly, while Daniel Ricciardo had to face exiting Q1 for the third time in seven weekends, placing at 17th. Esteban Ocon didn’t have the smoothest run ending at 18th only beating both Williams drivers Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi after he encountered brake issues.
