Singapore Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Ocon exited qualifying in Q1 – the Frenchman taking two sets of Pirelli P Zero Red softs with his quickest lap of 1:30.989 – compromised by a yellow flag for the stranded Alpine of Pierre Gasly at Turn 11 – resulting in P19. Bearman, also using two sets of softs, aborted his second flying lap with his first timed run of 1:30.420 fast enough for P9.

Two new sets of soft tires were utilized by Bearman in Q2, his second set netting a best lap of 1:30.166 (P10) to see him into Q3 and the top 10 shootout in his first qualifying session around the 4.927km circuit. The British rookie clocked his fastest time of the evening on this second set of softs, a 1:29.868, to clinch P9 on the grid for Sunday’s 62-lap race.

Up front, pole position went to Mercedes’ George Russell (1:29.158) ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (1:29.340).

Ollie Bearman:

“It’s nice to be back inside the top 10, it feels like a long time coming. We’ve had a few decent qualifying sessions that didn’t quite materialize, so this one is really nice, as so far as we’ve put together a good weekend. Qualifying was good, I had confidence with it, and it’s tight out there, so the lap I put together didn’t have a lot left in it. The margins are incredibly tight, and I hope we can consolidate some points from there tomorrow.”

Esteban Ocon:

“The car definitely had performance and the possibility to get into Q2 and Q3. It’s disappointing to have these issues – one with my belt which meant I couldn’t brake as it got stuck, and a yellow flag where I lost three tenths. You need to be able to nail those two laps, and we don’t seem to be able to catch a break currently. We’ll give it our best tomorrow to make it happen, as the car had great pace yesterday.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“It was a bit of a mixed result, but it’s extremely positive to get Ollie into Q3. We know we’ve had speed this weekend, the car has been quick, so we knew if we put everything right, we’d get into Q3. Ollie drove very well, and it was pretty tight out there, so it’s very satisfying. On Esteban’s side, he’s been on the pace all weekend, but we had a bit of a freak incident with his seatbelt in Q1, which destroyed his first lap. On his second lap, he was doing much better, close to Ollie’s pace, so Esteban should’ve been through but with the yellow flag, he lost three tenths and couldn’t recover. It’s frustrating but the positive thing is that he’s had the pace as well all weekend, just couldn’t convert in qualifying. With Ollie starting from P9, we’ll look to capitalize on that.”