Verstappen feels traffic ‘cost me a shot at pole’ after catching Norris at end of Singapore Qualifying lap

Max Verstappen shared mixed feelings after finishing second fastest in Saturday’s Qualifying session for the Singapore Grand Prix, believing that traffic cost him a chance of snatching pole position.

Red Bull driver Verstappen was pushing to beat an inspired effort from Mercedes rival George Russell at the end of Q3 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit when he closed on Lando Norris’ McLaren in the final sector.

While Verstappen ultimately came away with second – 0.182s adrift of Russell – on a track Red Bull have struggled to tame in recent seasons, he was left to ponder what might have been with a completely clear last lap.

Asked about the situation immediately after Qualifying, having been heard swearing over the radio on his in-lap, Verstappen said: “That’s what happens when there’s a car cruising two seconds in front.”

He later expanded: “Everyone always tries to look for clean air, and we all had that, but of course then some drivers probably aborted their lap.

“When I arrived to Turn 16, I had a car two or three seconds in front of me, and you can’t have that. It’s just what happened, and you lose downforce, as simple as that.

“That cost me at least a shot at pole. It was going to be very close, but nevertheless George had a really strong first lap. I knew that it was anyway going to be tough to beat, but the potential was definitely there.”

While disappointed not to take pole, Verstappen was encouraged by Red Bull’s performance in completely different high-downforce conditions to those experienced at Monza and Baku, where he claimed back-to-back wins via a series of car updates.

“It’s very good,” he commented. “I mean, the whole weekend has been very solid. The car has been working very well, like the last two weekends, really. For us to be this competitive in Qualifying on a track like this, with high downforce, is very promising.”

Verstappen heads into Sunday’s race looking to further reduce his 69-point deficit in the championship standings, with McLaren rivals Oscar Piastri and Norris starting third and fifth respectively.