4 hours ago
12
Max Verstappen was riled. His voice rose a note or two. His cadence quickened. He was furious with his pal Lando Norris for blocking him – telling him his behaviour was ‘noted’ and would be ‘remembered’.
To which Norris rejoined: ‘They always complain. That’s Red Bull. I don’t even know (what he is talking about). I was three seconds ahead. I can’t work it out.’
As this war of words broke out, a virus-hit George Russell took an excellent pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, kissing the wall but dominant in searing heat, 30C in the paddock, 55C in the cockpit.
Why Russell’s Mercedes contract negotiations drag on, who can say? Is there a strange reluctance among his team’s top brass to embrace him as their No1, which he most certainly is, as he was in the last throes of Lewis Hamilton’s time there?
But let’s get to the rub. Russell finished 0.182sec ahead of Red Bull’s magic man Verstappen, who was second quickest at the tropical Marina Bay Circuit – a big boost to him (despite his fury) in the title fight, given that championship leader Oscar Piastri was third best. Norris will start fifth.
But you could sense the anger fizzing out of Verstappen’s mouth. He is fighting to defend his crown from a long, almost impossible way back – and a perceived punk was in his ruddy way at the crucial point.
Max Verstappen took aim at Lando Norris after qualifying in Singapore on Saturday
Norris of McLaren blocked the Red Bull star during the final lap as the drivers battled it out for pole position
Mercedes' George Russell eventually sealed pole, with Verstappen second and Norris third
Norris was on his in-lap at the time, and Verstappen was tarried. However, Norris was some way away, as he argued in his own defence. He was not exactly brake-testing his rival.
‘You can thank your mate for that,’ Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. The Dutchman’s response over the radio was bleeped out but bleeped. We are told he said: ‘For f***’s sake.’ He flicked a sarcastic thumbs-up as he was impeded.
Now, Max is a decent man but is not a soothing sundowner if shaken or stirred.
He said: ‘It was close. The lap was coming nicely but nailing all the corners around here is very tough, and I had a car two seconds in front of me in the final chicane, and you cannot have that. I had to abort the lap. That was unfortunate because it would have been a close battle for first.’
Asked if he would talk to Norris, Verstappen said: ‘No.
‘It is clear that this is not nice when it happens to someone. In general, as drivers, we are quite good at staying out of each other’s way.
‘It can be complicated in different scenarios but in this case with only 10 cars on track it could have been avoided.’
Verstappen was furious with Norris for blocking him, telling the Brit his behaviour is 'noted' and will be 'remembered'
It was a boiling hot day in Singapore, with temperatures in the cockpit reaching north of 50C
Did Norris act deliberately to delay Verstappen? No chance is the verdict here. But there is some background playing into this. A day earlier Norris said Verstappen’s success was owing to his gene pool as the son of Jos, a former team-mate of Michael Schumacher, and karting star mother Sophie Kumpen. If he erred, it was doziness.
To the title mathematics. Piastri leads his McLaren team-mate Norris by 25 points and Verstappen by 69 with 199 remaining across seven grands prix, including today’s, and three sprint races.
This weekend’s encounter under lights is a litmus test of Verstappen’s veracity as a title contender. He has won the last two races, but they were low downforce tracks, in Monza and Baku, that suit his improved Red Bull, whereas Singapore’s streets offer different challenges. Conquer here and he can conquer the world, for a fifth time in succession.
As for Russell, he was brilliantly quick in qualifying, setting the fastest time at the start of Q3 and then improving upon it as the seconds ticked down – two weeks after finishing second in Azerbaijan, despite suffering illness that required a course of antibiotics.
‘It is amazing to be on pole,’ said Russell, who crashed in practice on Friday. ‘Yesterday was a challenging day but it is good to come back. It will be a long and sweaty race tomorrow and hard for me after the illness. The last 25 laps will be challenging.
Norris however hit back at Verstappen, claiming Red Bull 'always complain'
‘Singapore has not been the kindest to me in the past (crashing two years ago) and that has been through my own doing, so I am not getting carried away with pole. I want to hold the lead into Turn One but this guy standing to my left (Verstappen) likes to throw one down the inside. It means I will keep an eye on him.’
Russell called his kiss with the wall ‘a snog’ at Turn 17, the penultimate corner. It was a cosy embrace, for sure, but did not prevent him claiming his second pole of the year, the previous coming one in Canada, where he went on to win.
‘We have all been surprised by McLaren’s lack of pace,’ said Russell. ‘We were expecting them to run away with it.’
Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli qualified fifth, with Lewis Hamilton sixth for Ferrari, on a track he ripped to shreds in qualifying in 2018, a place ahead of Charles Leclerc in the other red car. A rare lift of sorts in a season that has not lived up to its top billing.
A bad evening for Williams, with both cars declared illegal for rear-wing infringements. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon will start from the back of the field.
