Russell Grabs Surprise Singapore Grand Prix Pole Position

Mercedes' Russell stole the spotlight from the championship fighters with a remarkable pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix

The driver's first pole since the Canadian Grand Prix in the summer, which he triumphed in, was secured by 0.182 seconds from the Red Bull team's Verstappen

McLaren's points leader Piastri secured P3, with his championship competitor and colleague Lando Norris fifth, behind the Mercedes squad's Antonelli

The Ferrari team's Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc claimed sixth and seventh

It was Mercedes' first pole in this venue since Hamilton achieved his legendary lap in the 2018 season and came as a surprise as George Russell gatecrashed Norris and Piastri's fight

The talk prior to the weekend was about whether Verstappen could defeat the McLaren team and secure a third consecutive win

And while Verstappen does start the Grand Prix ahead of both McLarens, and with a strong chance of strengthening his championship hopes, it was George Russell who emerged victorious

He recorded the fastest lap on his first run in final qualifying, despite touching the barrier out of Turn 17, and then improved it by 0.007secs on his second run

Verstappen and Piastri both could not better on their last attempts - and the Dutchman attributed that on Lando Norris driving slow in front of him in the last section

The incident happened on the run to the last turn, where Norris was on the inner side entering the pits as Max sought to finish his qualifying run

His race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase said: "Your friend is to blame for that," a nod to the friendship between Max and Lando

Verstappen, who looked angry about the incident in the aftermath of qualifying, stated: "If not for that I think it would have been close for pole"

Russell said: "I struggled yesterday due to various issues but it's good to bounce back and get a good result today. I was aware there was capability in the car"

Piastri explained he simply did not have the speed to compete and was over three-tenths off pole

More to follow