Sainz takes consecutive poles for the first time in his career, neither Red Bull reaches Q3 for the first time in five years and Lawson records his first top ten qualification. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix!
SAINZ ON POLE AT THE 2023 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz took pole position for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. Having also taken pole last time out at the Italian Grand Prix, Sainz secured consecutive pole positions for the first time in his career. In total, this is the fifth pole of Sainz’s career.
The 2023 Italian and Singapore Grands Prix mark the first time that Ferrari have taken pole position at consecutive races since the 2022 Italian and Singapore Grands Prix.
In 2022, Ferrari became the first team to take consecutive pole positions at Marina Bay Circuit. Sainz’s pole at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix makes them the first team to record three successive poles at the track.
This was the first time Sainz qualified in the top three at the Singapore Grand Prix.
IN THE TOP 10
George Russell set the second fastest time in qualifying for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, recording his first front row qualification since the Australian Grand Prix. This was Russell’s first Q3 appearance at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc qualified in third position for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix and was out-qualified by a team-mate at Marina Bay Circuit for the first time in his career.
Leclerc missed out on the front row by 0.007 seconds, meaning 2014 remains the last time that a team locked out the front row at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Qualifying fourth, Lando Norris reached Q3 for the tenth consecutive race. Norris’ fourth place marked McLaren’s best qualifying result at the Singapore Grand Prix since Lewis Hamilton took pole position in 2012.
With fifth place, Lewis Hamilton maintained his record of qualifying in the top five at every Singapore Grand Prix to date.
Fernando Alonso maintained his 100% Q3 record in the 2023 season with seventh place at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. This marked the first time that the Silverstone-based team has reached Q3 at the Singapore Grand Prix since 2018.
Both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg qualified in the top ten, with Haas recording their first double Q3 appearance since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. It’s the first time both Haas cars have reached Q3 at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Hulkenberg became the 14th driver to record 100 Q3 appearances in Formula 1. This was his fifth consecutive appearance at the Singapore Grand Prix on which he has qualified in the top ten.
This was the first time since qualifying fourth at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix that Magnussen reached Q3. Qualifying sixth, this was Magnussen’s third Q3 appearance at the Singapore Grand Prix and marked his best qualifying result at the circuit to date. Magnussen had never previously qualified in the top eight at Marina Bay Circuit.
Esteban Ocon reached Q3 for the first time since the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix. It was the first time he qualified in the top ten in six races, ending his longest Q3-less streak since the first races of his career.
Ocon’s eighth place in qualifying for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix marked the first time since the British Grand Prix that an Alpine driver appeared in Q3.
Liam Lawson reached Q3 for the first time in his Formula 1 career. In his three appearances so far, he has recorded a Q1 exit, a Q2 elimination and a Q3 appearance.
Lawson’s Q3 appearance made this the seventh time in the last nine Singapore Grand Prix weekends that at least one of the Red Bull junior team’s drivers qualified in the top ten.
This was the AlphaTauri team’s first Q3 appearance since the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.
OUT IN Q2
For the first time since the 2018 Russian Grand Prix, neither Red Bull driver reached Q3 at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. Both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were eliminated in Q2.
Before the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull had reached Q3 with both cars at every Singapore Grand Prix since 2009.
This was the first time since the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that Verstappen did not qualify in the top two, ending a 12 race streak of consecutive front row qualifications. It’s also the first time that Verstappen failed to qualify in the top eight at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Perez failed to reach Q3 for the seventh time in 2023, ending a four race streak of Q3 appearances – his longest streak so far this year. Qualifying 13th, this was Perez’s worst Singapore Grand Prix qualifying result since 2015.
For the first time in his four Singapore Grand Prix appearances, Pierre Gasly was out-qualified by his team-mate.
Setting the 14th fastest time in Q1, Alex Albon became the first Williams driver to reach Q2 at the Singapore Grand Prix since both of the team’s drivers did so in 2016.
Yuki Tsunoda set the fastest lap time in Q1. It marked the first time that the Red Bull junior team was fastest in a qualifying session since Jean-Eric Vergne was fastest in Q1 at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 2023 Singapore Grand Prix marked the second time that the fastest driver in Q1 went on to set the slowest lap time in Q2. Max Verstappen also achieved the rare feat at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
OUT IN Q1
Lance Stroll suffered a huge crash at the end of Q1. After improving in the first two sectors, his crash just before the finish line meant that he did not improve his lap time and set the slowest time overall of the 20 drivers.
Stroll qualified in last place for a second consecutive race. It’s the second time in his career that he has qualified in last position at consecutive races, having last done so at the 2018 Singapore and Russian Grands Prix.
His Q1 exit at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix made Stroll the first driver to record four Q1 eliminations at Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Alfa Romeo recorded a double Q1 exit for the third time this year at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. This was Zhou Guanyu’s first Q1 exit in Singapore and Valtteri Bottas’s second consecutive Q1 elimination at the track.
This was the first time since 2016 that Bottas out-qualified his team-mate at the Singapore Grand Prix.
2013 remains the last time that either of the former Sauber team’s cars reached Q3 at the Singapore Grand Prix.
With his final lap curtailed by Lance Stroll’s crash, Oscar Piastri qualified only 17th for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. It ended a streak of five consecutive Q3 appearances.
This was the second year in a row that Lando Norris reached Q3 at the Singapore Grand Prix with his McLaren team-mate being eliminated in Q1.
