What the teams said – Sprint day and Qualifying in Singapore

Red Bull

Verstappen was picked off at the start of the Sprint by Russell, but got the lead back when his rival crashed out. From there he was never under any real pressure from behind, the Dutchman recording his first win of any kind in Singapore. That was the good news for the team, the bad was Hadjar being forced to retire early on with an apparent power unit issue.

The Dutchman continued his strong weekend with pole for the Grand Prix, as he sets his sights on taking a clean sweep of poles and wins this weekend. But again, it was a mixed bag in Qualifying, with Hadjar struggling with reliability issues in Q1. He stopped out on track, got going again, came in, went back out – all to no avail, with the Frenchman unable to set a lap time and exiting at the first time of asking.

Max Verstappen, Sprint: 1st, Qualifying: 1st, 1:31.373

“It’s been a really positive weekend so far. The car has been in a good window from the start and it was great to get a win in the Sprint, but a strong Qualifying has always been the priority as this is a track where overtaking is difficult. We’ve been building momentum the last few races, so it’s great to come to a circuit where we’ve struggled in the past and be competitive. Qualifying was really close throughout, but we built up nicely and managed to put it in first when it mattered. We’ve done everything right up until now, but the most important thing tomorrow will be getting a clean start, so hopefully we can do that and finish off what has been a really strong weekend for us.”

Isack Hadjar, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 22nd, No time set in Q1

“It’s not been my weekend so far. We had the engine issue in the Sprint, I just didn’t have power at the start so lost a few places. We had Qualifying in mind for later, so we didn’t risk anything and retired the car. The Team did an amazing job repairing the car in time, and a big thank you to them because they did everything to get me back out there. Qualifying didn’t go my way either. As soon as I went out, I couldn’t go through the gears. I really wanted to put a lap in, so we brought the car back in and went out again to try, but we just couldn’t. We’ll look at what we need to change overnight, as tomorrow is a new day.”

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

"Max has been extremely strong throughout the weekend. He took Pole and victory in the Sprint in tricky conditions and delivered another stunning performance this evening. It was a very closely fought Qualifying session, and he was able to put everything together when it mattered. Fifty career poles is an impressive milestone and a reflection of the level he has maintained over many years.

"Today is also a result the whole Team can be proud of. The car has now been quickest in three consecutive Qualifying sessions and the positive trend we first saw in Monza has continued through Madrid, Baku, Sepang and now here. That reflects the hard work that has gone in across the Team to keep improving the package.

"Having said that, tomorrow will present a different challenge. We know Qualifying is particularly important at this circuit and today was another encouraging step in preparing for the race, but the start and the first stint will be critical. We know there are still areas where we can improve and it will not be easy to maintain track position, so our focus now is on understanding where we can be stronger tomorrow.

"I would like to apologise to Isack, as he has had very limited running opportunities this weekend. The crew in the garage did a truly incredible job to get the car ready for Qualifying, after the issue in the Sprint and in SQ yesterday, but unfortunately, we then encountered a gearbox problem which we are still investigating. Starting from the back will make tomorrow difficult, but he has shown many times this season that he approaches every challenge in the right way and we will fight together to come back through the field."

Ferrari

Hamilton had an incredible start in the Sprint, rising from sixth to third off the line and then up to second to run right behind old foe Verstappen. While he couldn’t find a way past the Dutchman, he did drop his team mate as the dash continued, the front two in a class of their own. Leclerc ran third, but struggled to keep life in his tyres and was fortunate not to come under pressure from the McLarens behind, who were more interested in fighting each other.

Ferrari’s strong form continued into Qualifying, with Hamilton looking the pick of the bunch in both Q1 and Q2. But he admitted to some car tweaks before Q3, and out on track suddenly he suffered a few snaps and thus lost some pace. Leclerc’s last laps were slightly better but there was not much in it – 0.069s between the duo in the end.

Charles Leclerc, Sprint: 3rd, Qualifying: 2nd, 1:31.427

"My last lap was a good one, after I didn't have the best feeling in the car in Q1 and Q2. I think there was potential for us to be on pole, but at the end of the day, Max (Verstappen) was just a step ahead. As for the Sprint, I was managing at the beginning but things became more tough as the race went on. I couldn’t rotate the car properly which in turn wore my tyres out. We’re going to give it everything and let’s see what we bring home."

Lewis Hamilton, Sprint: 2nd, Qualifying: 3rd, 1:31.496

"I had a good time out there today and it gives us plenty to build on. A double podium in the Sprint and a competitive qualifying session for both cars, puts us in a good position tomorrow. We’ve shown we have a strong package, and having both drivers near the front gives us a real opportunity to work together tomorrow.

"The challenge now is to turn that position into a strong race result. We know the pace at the front will be tough to match, but we’re ready to take the fight to them, keep the pressure on and seize every opportunity that comes our way."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"It was a strong day for the team. We performed well in the Sprint and then showed good pace again in qualifying, with both Charles and Lewis competitive from Q1 to Q3. Charles delivered an excellent final lap to secure second place, and Lewis was fighting for pole until the very end. Starting from second and third is a good position, but what matters now is tomorrow. We have a lot of information to analyse and we will look at every detail. With both cars at the front, we have the opportunity to put pressure on Max (Verstappen) ahead and fight for the best possible result as a team."

Mercedes

Russell got a great start in wet conditions, picking off Verstappen to grab the lead in the Sprint. But his first lap went sideways when he got wide out of the last corner onto the slippery kerbs, losing the rear and spinning into the wall. Antonelli managed to avoid his team mate and was running sixth, keeping out of trouble until the intra-team collision at McLaren late on promoted him to fourth.

That result meant the Italian extended his lead in the standings to 89 points. In Qualifying, the team did well to rebuild Russell’s car in time for the start of Q1. He did take part fully in the segments despite knowing he had a grid drop coming, primarily to check the car rebuild was correct, but also to gather more data on the different spec cars the team are running.

Both Mercedes cars made it to the top 10, but did not have the pace to fight for the front row.

George Russell, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 6th, 1:31.747

"First of all, I want to say a big thank you to the team for all of their hard work today to rebuild my car after the crash in the Sprint. It was a silly mistake on my side, running wide at the final corner, getting on the white line and losing traction. I misjudged it so that's on me. I felt good on the formation lap and obviously took the lead so was pushing hard. I just pushed too hard too soon and that led to our DNF.

"Following the subsequent rebuild, the main focus for us in qualifying was to ensure the handling of the car was OK and focus on what learning we could achieve across the two cars. The balance didn't quite feel as good as it did on Friday and that probably explains our lack of pace this evening. We will look at the data tonight and see if there's anything we can improve ahead of tomorrow.

"Starting from the back of the grid here isn't ideal. It's going to be very hard to overtake and make my way through, but I'll be trying my best tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some good battles, and we will see where we end up."

Kimi Antonelli, Sprint: 4th, Qualifying: 4th, 1:31.562

We studied the data from Friday and had a few ideas on how to improve our pace with the update for the Sprint. We tried a few things which helped and that gave us a good direction to follow heading into qualifying. They improved the car and that was very encouraging for us all; the team has done a really good job, and we've really grown our understanding of the package. We ended up qualifying P4, but I think there was more lap time in it.

The window that this update seems to work in is narrower than the previous specification, but we are working hard to find the right balance and unlock its true potential. The car definitely reacts differently to the previous package, but we continue to learn here in Singapore and I am sure we will add to that tomorrow. Hopefully we can have a good race, be looking ahead and get ourselves in the fight for the podium.

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"That was a complicated day but one that has helped us as a team in many different ways. We have been running two different specifications across our two cars here in Singapore, all focused on building our learning of the new update and making sure we can get it working as expected. We found some good avenues to explore overnight, and the team has done a good job of dialling out some of the balance challenges we saw in Malaysia and then yesterday too. To be just a couple of tenths away from pole position is encouraging and we know that there is more to come.

"The Sprint was unfortunate for George as he got caught out on the white line at the final corner. That can happen in the wet, particularly when you are the first car on the road and approaching the conditions ahead of everyone else. The mechanics did an unbelievable job putting the car together after that and that helped us continue our comparison work into qualifying.

"With Kimi starting from P4 and George at the back, we know we are in damage limitation mode tomorrow. Overtaking is tough here, but we will be giving it our all to make up places and score decent points."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"We started with a tricky Sprint in difficult wet conditions. George had got himself into the lead with a strong start but got caught out on an exit kerb at the end of the opening lap and that was his race over. That was unfortunate as we saw how strong his long run pace was in FP1 and he was definitely in contention for victory.

"Kimi meanwhile held position off the line but got stuck in a train of cars and, as overtake mode was disabled due to the low grip conditions, there were no chances to attempt a pass. We did benefit from the McLarens coming together in the closing laps though and earnt some useful points with P4.

"The mechanics did a good job to get George's car back together in time for qualifying and that was particularly helpful to get more useful comparative data with the two packages. Ultimately George was less happy with the handling of his car than yesterday; we need to understand why that was as the set-up hadn't changed although much of the car had been rebuilt.

"Kimi, running the update package, was closer to the pace than he was yesterday and that is encouraging. It's good that we have made some progress although we're not going to get excited about P4 on the grid and clearly have more work to do to understand why the car is proving a bit trickier to drive. We now have got two very different races to manage tomorrow. George from the back will be looking to recover into good points and Kimi will be hoping to progress forward from where he starts into a fight for the podium positions."

McLaren

Neither Mclaren got away particularly well in the Sprint, but Piastri was holding onto fourth and Norris fifth for much of the dash. Late on as Leclerc began to slow, Piastri, Norris and Antonelli concertinaed up behind. That gave Norris a sniff of a chance and he went for an overtake on the last lap, but instead the two papaya cars collided with Piastri spinning into the wall and out. Norris recovered to just hold on to the final point.

The good news for the team was that they managed to repair and get both cars out for Qualifying. Once Russell’s grid penalty is applied, however, their drivers will start side by side tomorrow for the Grand Prix...

Lando Norris, Sprint: 8th, Qualifying: 5th, 1:31.712 "A frustrating day. Firstly, during the Sprint, that is never the way we want to end a race, and obviously none of us are particularly happy about it. I apologised to the team as that's not the outcome we wanted and it of course created additional work for everyone. We've discussed it and taken learnings from what happened, and we've moved on.

"Today’s Qualifying was undoubtedly a disappointment. We came here expecting more, and while there were flashes of potential where the car felt quick in certain sectors, it was ultimately too tricky to drive and we simply couldn’t put a clean lap together. Qualifying P5 and P7 is a fair reflection of where we are on pace, and it’s not where we want to be.

"Looking ahead, we know it's going to be a challenging race on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult. Track position and strategy will be paramount. We have to be prepared to react and make smart decisions as the race unfolds, because a lot of the outcome will be decided on the fly. It's a long race and anything can happen, so we will fight for every opportunity."

Oscar Piastri, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 7th, 1:31.860 "P7. We wanted a bit more from today. The end of the Sprint is never something we want as a team, but we've reviewed and moved on together. Thank you to the mechanics for getting the car back together in such a short amount of time.

"Getting clean laps in this afternoon was tougher compared to yesterday and the track conditions weren't as good as they were in Sprint Qualifying. The result reflects the pace of the car we have, so we have a lot more work to do. I've made a lot of progress in how I need to drive these cars, but getting the most out of it was tricky in the conditions we had this evening.

"For tomorrow, let’s see what we can do and what progress we can make. There is plenty to learn overnight."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal "It was a very long, tiring and challenging day, and things certainly didn’t go our way on track. The Qualifying result reflects our current level, which sees us fluctuating between third and fourth place in terms of performance. On this track, clearly, Red Bull and Ferrari are ahead of us and we’re battling it out with Mercedes. We must continue to work on improving the MCL40 and we still have a few developments, which have been finalised over the past few weeks, that will be progressively introduced starting from the Austin round.

"Tomorrow though, we must try to make the most of any opportunities that may arise on a track like this, but we must be realistic and recognise that a podium finish will certainly not be easy to achieve.

"As for what happened on the final lap of the Sprint, very simply, it is unacceptable that two McLarens ever come together on track. This is a fundamental principle of how we go racing, and something both drivers are very well aware of.

"As always, we discuss these incidents as a team in a constructive and productive way as there is always something to learn and take forward to emerge stronger. These are not conversations we need to have in public, but we have reminded our drivers that the interests of the team must always come first, and that did not happen today.

"I’d like to highlight the work done by the team to repair the damage caused by the collision between the two drivers in the Sprint. The team in the garage led by Charlie Hooper did an exceptional job in ensuring that Lando and Oscar could make the most of their chances in Qualifying with a car in perfect working order. This is the team spirit that characterises the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team.

"Away from Singapore, I would like to congratulate McLaren Driver Development Programme member Dries Van Langendonck for his impressive Championship victory in British F4, winning the competition in his rookie year."

Racing Bulls

Lawson picked up good points in the Sprint, after managing to keep out of trouble. It was touch and go for the New Zealander on the last lap though, as he only just managed to avoid the spinning McLarens. As for Lindblad, he had a spin of his own behind the Safety Car early on. He then drove the wrong way up the track briefly to get to a run off area to turn around in, and was called to the stewards to explain himself.

They opted to take no further action, which was good as it meant Lindblad could qualify on merit. After his early exit yesterday, he did much better on his second effort to make the top 10, joining his team mate.

Arvid Lindblad, Sprint: 13th, Qualifying: 10th, 1:32.781

"We’ve had a decent turnaround today, especially after a disappointing result in the Sprint. It was a slightly unusual Qualifying session but I felt good in Q2 and was able to extract some pace from the car. As we progressed into Q3, I struggled with grip and found it difficult to put everything together on the final lap. We’ll need to analyse the data and understand why that was the case. That said, I’m happy to be in the top ten and in a good position heading into tomorrow.”

Liam Lawson, Sprint: 5th, Qualifying: 9th, 1:32.369

"Overall, it's been a positive day. After finishing P5 in the Sprint race, it was great to have both cars in Q3, however finishing P9 means I'm starting on the tougher side of the grid tomorrow. It's frustrating as we've been very strong this weekend, however I pushed a bit too hard in the final lap, so didn't maximise the potential of the car. That being said, we have good pace, so I'm feeling hopeful for the race. It's been great to see support from New Zealand here in Singapore, so we hope to give the fans a good race and bring home double points."

Mattia Spini, head of Trackside Engineering

"A very eventful day, as is often the case on the Saturday of a Sprint weekend. The rain arrived just before the formation lap, with the entire field opting for Intermediate tyres. Liam drove a very strong Sprint, gaining some valuable points for the team. He managed his tyres well and adapted to the balance changes typical of a drying track. Arvid found it more difficult to extract the required pace as conditions evolved, but gained useful experience in a particularly challenging session.

“A few hours later, we were back in qualifying mode. It was fantastic to see both cars reach Q3 again, confirming that the car was working well, and both drivers did an excellent job. Unfortunately, we had only one new set of Soft tyres available for each car in Q3, which limited our opportunities to improve on our Q2 lap times. We will learn from this and turn our attention to the race, where we start ninth and tenth; getting the start and the opening lap right will be paramount.”

Alpine

Colapinto was one of those to retire early on in the Sprint, with what looked a mechanical issue that stopped his car on track – the Argentinian not even able to coast into a run off area. That left Gasly to fly the flag for the team, and he came close to points. The Frenchman was running in the top eight after a good start, but lost out to Bearman at the Safety Car restart. He lost out to Hulkenberg and Ocon too, but was able to fight back past his countryman – but he finished just outside the points.

Gasly made it all the way to Q3 and out-qualified both Racing Bulls cars in what was a strong one-lap performance, but Colapinto could not join him in the top 10 after clipping the wall hard in Q2 and thus exiting at the second time of asking.

Pierre Gasly, Sprint: 9th, Qualifying: 8th, 1:32.225

“We definitely have mixed feelings after today. The Sprint Race was tough for us and we struggled for power on the straights throughout the race, which we quickly reviewed to understand for next time. In Qualifying we really did a good job, I was very happy with that, and it was probably one of my best Q3 performances of the season so far. It is a very unforgiving track and it has generally been quite a tricky weekend so far. You have to really build up to it and grow in confidence lap after lap. I pushed the limits further and further and it all came together in the end and I was happy with the lap, so it worked out very well for us. I took a lot of risks on that final run, really on the edge, touched a few walls, but that's what we needed to get the Racing Bulls. Tomorrow is a bit of an unknown for everyone without much practice time on high fuel. I see it as a good opportunity, I am looking forward to that and we have put ourselves in a good position, P7 on the grid with the penalty for George [Russell], which means we have to capitalise and score good points.”

Franco Colapinto, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 16th, 1:33.787

“It has been a bit of a frustrating day, not only with not getting the most out of Qualifying but also stopping on track in the Sprint earlier in the day with an issue with the car. In the Sprint, I just lost power, and everything shut down, which I know we're looking into further as a team. We made some changes and fixes between the sessions to parts already in the pool and got back out on track. I felt in a good place in Q1 and was able to push and put a good lap time on the board. After that, the car progressively felt more difficult and there was a strange balance shift where I lacked rear grip, particularly on my last lap in Q2. I'm a bit lost as to why that was and it's something I'm sure we'll look into. I made contact with the wall in the final sector of the lap, but I was already quite a bit down on my previous laps, so it did not really impact where I ended up. We will try our best tomorrow to move forward and score points if we can. We know anything is possible here with the weather and some cars not finishing, so let's see where we end up.”

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director

“A bittersweet day in the end for us but, importantly, we concluded it on a positive note with Pierre's excellent Qualifying performance. It means he starts P7 on the grid for tomorrow's race and that gives us an excellent opportunity to collect a handful of points which is becoming increasingly important for us in our Championship battle. The Sprint Race did not go to plan; Pierre had power issues throughout the race and that meant he had no real tools to take the fight to those ahead, who, eventually scored valuable points. Franco stopped on track with a suspected Energy Store issue, which we identified and replaced ahead of Qualifying. He struggled more with car balance and rear grip in Qualifying, which we are working through to understand and improve. It is important we target a smooth race tomorrow, rely on some of our strengths from recent Sundays and aim to put ourselves in a position to score as many points as possible.”

Audi

Bortoleto was an innocent bystander at the Safety Car restart in the Sprint when Albon hit him from behind, forcing the Brazilian into retirement. Hulkenberg though was in the thick of the action elsewhere. He pulled off an elbows-out move on Gasly for P9 and then ran Bearman ahead close until late on. The German inherited two places on the last lap thanks to the McLaren incident, which bagged Audi two points.

Bortoleto had a bit of a snap on his flying lap in Q2 and wound up down in P15, while Hulkenberg narrowly missed out on Q3. The German will start in the top 10 though when Russell’s grid penalty is applied.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sprint: 7th, Qualifying: 11th, 1:32.784

"It was a positive Saturday overall. Picking up a couple of points in the Sprint was a nice bonus and we'll certainly take that. Qualifying was tidy as well. We tried a few things with the setup and threw everything at it in Q2, but in the end we were just missing that little bit of pace to make Q3.

"Starting from P10 [due to George Russell’s penalty] isn't a bad place to be around Marina Bay. We'll look through everything tonight, and hopefully we can put ourselves in the fight for points tomorrow."

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 15th, 1:33.658

“It was a tough Saturday for me. This morning in the Sprint, everyone was bunched up in the last sector after the Safety Car restart, and I got hit from behind. There was nothing I could really do: the damage was very marginal, but unfortunately it was enough to make continuing impossible. It’s a shame because a race like this is full of opportunities, and maybe points were on the table today.

“Qualifying wasn’t great either. I made a mistake on my final lap and went straight in Turn 14. I didn’t feel like I had very good grip throughout the session, and I just didn’t manage to put the lap together. Until that point, it was looking quite good, but margins are small and mistakes are costly. Tomorrow, starting from P14 is going to be tough because this is a track where overtaking is very limited, but I’ll try my best and see what progress we can make.”

Allan McNish, Racing Director

 “I think it was a pretty good session overall, certainly for Nico, who drove very well. He had a clean and tidy run through qualifying and extracted the maximum performance from the car that we had available tonight.

“On Gabi's side, we were a little bit off the pace for reasons we still need to understand. It is certainly not down to the driver, but we need to get to the bottom of why there was a performance difference between the cars throughout the lap, something we haven't seen at any point this season. We will be putting our heads together to understand that.

“With Russell's grid penalty, Nico will move up to P10, while Gabi will start from P14. I think those are good positions from which to fight for points tomorrow.”

Haas

Bearman enjoyed himself in the wet conditions in Singapore, climbing up the order after a good start and picking off Gasly with a bold move to get into the points. He managed to hold P8 for much of the Sprint too, before scoring even more points when he made his way past Piastri and Norris. As for Ocon, he also got Gasly, but then lost out to his countryman late on and finished a still encouraging P10.

The pair improved over one lap from yesterday, with both drivers making it to Q2. Although they did not have the pace for Q3, once Russell’s grid penalty is applied, Haas look like they could be in the mix for points tomorrow.

Oliver Bearman, Sprint: 6th, Qualifying: 12th, 1:32.908

“It was a really good Sprint, the car was mega, super fast, and I think we were flying out there – I’m proud of the team. To score points, it means that we had to be a bit lucky in terms of result, but we also executed well. I’m proud of my performance, as everything came together today. When it does, we score points, and it’s a good reminder for everyone in the team that we have to keep being there or thereabouts, as if we’re not quick enough to score points on merit, there’s always a bit of opportunity that things can happen.

“It was very close later in qualifying, but it was a bit more competitive than yesterday, or at least that was the feeling. I was happy although Q2 wasn’t as clean as Q1. I spent a long time in the garage after the end of Q1 and the tyres didn’t feel great on the first run, so I was a bit behind going into the second run, which definitely cost a bit of lap time, and then I got in traffic in sector three. I don't think that was going to add up to three tenths, but the fact that we were genuinely fighting to get into Q3 is a good thing. There will be opportunities, I’m sure, as tomorrow it’s a very long night, so we’ll keep our heads up to score more points.”

Esteban Ocon, Sprint: 10th, Qualifying: 13th, 1:33.323

“We had a mega start in the Sprint and a mega first couple of laps, we moved forward up the grid. We tried to keep the momentum going, but once the track dried up, everyone was used to the conditions, and we weren’t quick enough. I think we did the maximum of what we could on our side of the garage for qualifying. We made good progress from yesterday with the set-up of the car, but we've lacked grip since the start of the weekend. There are some things on Ollie’s car that would’ve helped us as well, but it’s very positive that it’s working out well for the team. We progressed well, and I tried to push harder on the last run, but the car couldn’t take it – unfortunately, and we couldn’t finish the lap properly. Getting close to the points in the Sprint after starting P16 is hugely positive. We don’t know if it’s going to rain tomorrow, but we’ll try our best for another decent start.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It was a decent Saturday, as in the Sprint we weren’t really expecting to score points. Conditions were wet, but that was actually good as we made such a mess of it in Sepang that we really wanted to put those mistakes behind us and make amends. On the face of it, it looked easy as everyone was on inters and no one made a stop, but what I’m happy about is the communication and clarity going on in the background. It wasn’t there last weekend, but was today, so as a team we made the right decisions and stayed calm. For Ollie to finish P6 and score three points is great, as his driving was fantastic, and his overtakes were amazing. In qualifying, we wanted a strong showing but were disappointed with P12 and P13, which again is a good thing. We left some performance out there but with Russell’s penalty, we start P11 and P12, which is a good place to execute a good race to score points. Tomorrow, from this position, we have to be targeting another points finish.”

Williams

Albon braked too late at the restart and hit the back of Bortoleto’s Audi, before being hit himself by Bottas. That left him with car damage and although he pitted for a new front wing, the team eventually opted to retire the car. Sainz started from the pit lane and rose to 12th at the flag, one of the drivers to keep completely out of trouble.

In Qualifying, Albon could not extract much pace from the car and will start down the order. Sainz made Q2 but found traffic in the form of Hulkenberg which did not aid his cause.

Alex Albon, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 18th, 1:34.289 "I was relatively happy with my lap, but it wasn't enough for Q2 today. We had to make several changes to the car following the incident in the Sprint, so thanks to the team for getting the car ready for qualifying. It is a long race tomorrow so you never know what might happen. Tyre degradation is looking okay currently, so will be interesting to see how strategy develops across the grid, especially knowing that overtaking is tricky here. Regardless, we'll give it everything in front of the fans tomorrow."

Carlos Sainz, Sprint: 12th, Qualifying: 14th, 1:33.526 "We did some great laps in Q1 - I was feeling confident and the performance was looking solid, so it’s disappointing that we didn’t nail the execution in Q2. We waited too long in the garage and everything got messy from there, as we rushed to the line and got impeded by an Audi in sector 1 on my final push, so hopefully we’ll start tomorrow from P13 and on the clean side. Although overtaking here is extremely difficult, we will do our best to bring home a good result."

James Vowles, Team Principal "A better showing in qualifying than we had yesterday and more in line with where we expected the pace to be in what is a very tight midfield. Carlos did good laps. We missed out on the very last lap by intentionally pushing late to maximise track evolution. One of the systems indicated that he had crossed the line after the flag but in reality he hadn’t and we need to make sure we tighten up that process and keep pushing until such time as we are confident.

"With Alex, it took a large amount of work following the accident in the Sprint and he wasn’t quite as comfortable with the car, but the team in the garage did a great job to get the car ready. We will have a look overnight and see what changes we need to do so both drivers can come back stronger tomorrow. There are plenty of opportunities, we saw that in the Sprint and we just need to be there to pick up the points when it matters."

Aston Martin

Alonso managed to finish the Sprint but was unable to score, despite the large number of retirements. One of those was Stroll, who collided with Perez early on and parked up in a run off area after hitting the barriers. The stewards had a look and opted not to apply a penalty.

Stroll had another moment in Q1, heading into the run off area after missing his braking point. Neither driver made it into Q2 although Alonso got close, exiting in 17th place.

Fernando Alonso, Sprint: 11th, Qualifying: 17th, 1:34.223

“Today in the Sprint, we got the most out of the car and took advantage of other cars’ retirements to finish P11. Unfortunately, Qualifying was more of the same as yesterday’s Sprint Qualifying, and we could only manage P17. My final run was clean, and everything was well managed by the team, but the pace just wasn’t there again. As a result of that, we have taken the decision to replace the PU overnight.”

Lance Stroll, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 19th, 1:34.946

“It’s not our weekend so far, we’re not performing here as expected. The car didn’t feel great today - it’s a bumpy track and these tracks are tough for our car. We didn’t manage to capitalize on any opportunities during the Sprint as I had to retire the car early after making contact with another car. In Qualifying, we hit traffic during my final push lap, and there was some confusion about Bottas in front of me aborting his push lap, where we lost a lot of time.”

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

“A difficult day for us here in Singapore. We had mixed fortunes in the Sprint where Lance made contact with Perez which put him out early, whilst Fernando made up four places to finish in P11. In tonight's Qualifying we did not have the pace to make it beyond Q1. We will change Fernando's PU based on his feedback. Tomorrow will be a long race where everything can happen, we will have to prepare well and be ready to take advantage of any opportunities that come our way.”

Cadillac

It was not to be for Cadillac in the last Sprint of the year. Perez was the first to retire after contract with Stroll’s Aston Martin. He limped back to the pits, but had to retire the car. Then Bottas hit the back of Albon’s Williams at the restart, after the Thai driver had hit the car in front. That led to Bottas also retiring, and left the team with two damaged cars to repair.

Although the team did well to get both cars out at the start of Q1, neither had the pace to fight with the likes of Williams and Aston Martin. Perez took the intra-team honours by over eight tenths.

Valtteri Bottas, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 21st, 1:35.984

“It’s been a tough day - I didn’t finish the Sprint and in Qualifying I had a problem with deployment on my last lap, so I didn’t have any power on the straights. I was still pushing, but it felt like I was in charge mode, so I didn’t have a chance to improve. We need to have a look at the procedure and see what happened there. It’s not been straightforward so far, but let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Sergio Perez, Sprint: DNF, Qualifying: 20th, 1:35.123

“The team did a great job getting the car ready again after the incident in the Sprint. Technically, the car felt a little better today, but the gap to our competitors remains too big. Aston Martin and Williams seem to be stronger than us around this circuit. I got the absolute maximum out of the car and put together one of the strongest laps I’ve ever done here. I’m really pleased with my lap, but unfortunately, even with such a strong performance, it wasn’t enough to gain a single position. We know the areas we need to work on for next year, particularly our low-speed performance and the car’s mechanical behavior.”

Marcin Budkowski, Team Principal

“A mixed Sprint Saturday for the team today with a heavy downpour just before the start of the Sprint. We had to retire both cars from the Sprint race and that gave the garage a lot of work to do before Qualifying - so a big thank you to everyone for the hard work. Checo got tangled up with [Lance] Stroll and Valtteri got caught out with the concertina effect behind the Safety Car at the restart.

“Qualifying for tomorrow’s race was a bit more positive. Both drivers had a clean session but Valtteri had a deployment issue on his car which meant he was down on power on his last push lap. We will have a couple of cars starting behind us on the grid tomorrow and on a street circuit we have to be ready to take our chances with our current package.”

Pirelli

Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director "The conditions faced by the drivers during the Sprint were challenging because rainfall had affected only part of the circuit, effectively leaving half of the track very wet while the other half was already drying. The Intermediate tyres used at the start remained on the cars until the chequered flag and delivered remarkably consistent performance throughout the race distance. Despite the track evolving towards near-slick conditions in the closing stages, degradation remained extremely limited and the graining we observed, particularly on the front axle, had no significant impact on performance. Managing tyre temperatures was a key factor, especially in the final laps, but overall tyre wear remained fully under control.

"The track still featured some damp sections during qualifying, resulting in less than ideal conditions. Teams adopted different approaches when preparing the Soft tyre. Some elected to complete an additional preparation lap to bring the tyres into their optimum operating window, as Mercedes did in Q3, although no significant advantage emerged compared to rivals who opted to push immediately on a flying lap. Once again, it was clear that tyre management is an essential part of the overall package, closely linked to both the characteristics of the car and the driver’s style.

"In our view, the C5 represents the most interesting option for the start of tomorrow’s race, which could be heavily influenced by any Safety Car periods. The higher level of grip offered by the Soft in the opening phase should make it the preferred choice for most drivers, who may look to extend the first stint, aided by the low degradation levels, while waiting for a favourable neutralisation. For the second part of the race, the Medium and Hard offer relatively similar performance, although the C4 could provide an advantage in terms of grip. At present, a two-stop strategy appears unlikely, as it is estimated to be around ten seconds slower than the available one-stop alternatives."