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# Winners and losers from Singapore GP 2026 F1 qualifying
- URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/winners-and-losers-from-singapore-gp-2026-f1-qualifying/
- Published: 2026-10-10T16:45:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-10T16:45:24.000Z
- Description: Our pick of the stars and flops on the quite mixed-up Singapore GP F1 grid
- Author: Josh Suttill
- Tags: Formula 1, #primary_homepage_feature, #secondary_feature_1, #singapore-grand-prix

A better evening for the championship leader’s upgraded car still wasn’t enough to get Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes into the [Singapore Grand Prix pole fight](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/verstappen-beats-ferraris-to-singapore-gp-pole/), so it’s turning into a very good weekend for (one) Red Bull.

Here’s our full winners and losers rundown from qualifying.

## Winner: Max Verstappen (1st)

Max Verstappen might just be one good start away from finally ending his Singapore hex and taking a grand prix victory on the one remaining circuit he has raced at regularly in F1 without winning.

He’s looked hooked up in the Red Bull this weekend as the 2026 car looks much more suited to the Marina Bay street circuit than its ground-effect predecessors ever did. 

It wasn’t perfect. That Verstappen couldn’t improve on his final run left him vulnerable. But there’s no better place to start from if Verstappen is to make it two wins on the spin: although he’s clearly still not convinced by Red Bull’s startline troubles. 

He was mugged off the line by George Russell in the sprint and Verstappen says there are “no excuses” for this given the sister Racing Bulls team is having good launches with the same software and hardware. **\- Scott Mitchell-Malm**

## Loser: Isack Hadjar (22nd)

A session that left the other Red Bull driver “pissed off” and wishing he’d stayed at home.

Isack Hadjar commended the work done by his Red Bull mechanics to get him out on track before a gearbox issue that “broke the fourth gear” and caused another abrupt end. 

Hadjar was less than pleased after qualifying ended and went into somewhat of a spiral in his media session about his dislike for the current sprint format, the future sprint races and the “very disappointing” decision-making that led to more sprints being put on the calendar. 

Part of the Red Bull driver’s frustration comes from having his excitement of getting over his handling issues ruined and the chance of points on Sunday now looking far from reality. Or, as he rather amusingly summed up: “I could’ve stayed back in Paris and it would’ve been the same \[result.\]” **\- Eden Hannigan**

## Winner: Upgraded Mercedes (4th)

Kimi Antonelli’s gap to pole was cut from seven tenths to two tenths of a second from Friday to Saturday, a victory for the upgraded Mercedes.

Antonelli said: “We went completely opposite with the set-up \[after the sprint race\], and the car was in a happier place”. 

The Race understands that the balance shift took the car away from generating too much oversteer and giving Antonelli a lack of confidence under braking. 

Antonelli played around with differential settings during the sprint that dialled a lot of that oversteer out - leading to stronger pace later in the race - and that was followed by major set-up changes after the sprint, including raising the ride height and thus moving the aero balance back into a better window.

He thinks Mercedes should switch both its drivers to the new package for the next race at Austin so the team can keep experimenting to find the right window for its new upgrade. 

Russell, a largely meaningless sixth in qualifying with a hefty engine penalty to serve for the race, wasn’t quite as glowing.

“It was positive to see Kimi more competitive today than yesterday, however, we weren't exactly lighting the timing screen on fire,” Russell said.

“As a team we’re still not satisfied with where we are with the new package. We recognise we need to make set-up adjustments to compensate for those changes. Maybe we can find a way to make it work, but right now we need more time.”

The upgraded Mercedes is still lagging behind the Red Bull and the Ferrari in Singapore at least, but it’s clearly made a step in the right direction. **\- Josh Suttill**

## Loser: Aston Martin (17th + 19th)

A messy session that may leave Aston Martin even worse off than the initial qualifying results suggest. 

Fernando Alonso already suggested he may take a grid penalty for a turbo issue that progressively worsened throughout Saturday’s action, culminating in a loss of power and momentum on the exits of the corners and a Q1 exit. 

A lockup and a little bit of traffic were the story on the other side of the garage, as Lance Stroll surmised that the main Aston Martin issue comes from the bumpy nature of the Marina Bay circuit not working for its current package.

Given the track conditions are unlikely to change overnight, and the low grid positions could get even lower, the reality is a far cry from the pre-event aspirations of another potential points haul. **\- EH**

## Winner: Charles Leclerc (2nd)

After a bruising sprint where he faded badly with front tyre wear, this was Charles Leclerc at his best - dancing through discomfort to pull a very good qualifying lap out from nowhere.

He lagged badly behind Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Q1 and Q2, struggling with the car pulling to one side under braking, but with more “commitment” he turned the tables in Q3 and even got surprisingly close to pole.

Leclerc suggested he still wasn’t entirely happy with the car so, even beyond a front-row start typically being a good qualifying result, this worked out very well. **\- SMM**

## Loser: Lewis Hamilton (3rd)

Context is critical for establishing why Hamilton ultimately lost out in qualifying. 

Third on the grid is fine, especially when the gaps were so small. But it could have been so much more. 

Leclerc said there was more in the Ferrari and Hamilton was the evidence. His theoretical best lap in Q3 was quicker than Verstappen’s, so if he had pieced together the sectors, he would be first. Plain and simple. 

Hamilton had been delighted with his runs through Q1 and Q2 so to have that final outcome, after a Q3 in which he said neither lap was any good, is a loss. - **SMM**

## Loser: Franco Colapinto (16th)

Eight places down on Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly was more like the Franco Colapinto of old, rather than the driver who has been on terms with Gasly for much of the second half of the season. 

Colapinto ended up in the wall in Q2 at Turn 17 but even before then he wasn’t looking likely to join Gasly in Q3\. 

“It's very strange,” Colapinto said of his 16th place. “Before the wall, I was already a lot slower than my Q1 lap, which normally you would improve a lot. 

“So, I don't know, very strange, I had no rear grip the last lap. It was extremely poor, it was the worst balance I've had in the weekend. 

“So, I don't know, a bit lost, to be honest, because Q1 felt quite easy to do the lap and it was coming not too bad, but then it was very, very poor.” **\- JS**

## Winner: Pierre Gasly (8th)

For the third consecutive grand prix qualifying session, Gasly won F1’s midfield battle, beating both Racing Bulls in Q3.

Gasly called it “one of my best Q3s of the year” in a season he took pole at Monza, as he was thrilled with his execution on a sprint weekend.

He’s just hoping his Q3 appearance will translate into points, unlike in Azerbaijan and Malaysia.

“I must say the last few weekends, I think we have done four Q3s \[including Singapore sprint\] in the last four quali, but somehow we haven't scored that much because it's always gone wrong for whatever reason,” Gasly said.

“So as much as I would like a bit of chaos tomorrow, \[it’s\] hopefully not involving us another time, and hopefully we can translate this good quali into points.” **\- JS**

## Loser: Alex Albon (18th)

Alex Albon was half a second slower than Williams team-mate Carlos Sainz in Q1 despite being “relatively happy with my lap”.

The data suggests the majority of that loss seems to come with the way Albon approached the tricky Turn 13 left-hander.

Team boss James Vowles said Albon “wasn’t as comfortable in the car” after Williams made repairs following the sprint, in which he shunted into the back of Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi at the safety car restart. 

Sainz’s Q2 was also compromised as Williams’s systems indicated he’d taken the chequered flag when he actually hadn’t - so he abandoned his lap and with it any chance of beating the Haas drivers. 

“We will have a look overnight and see what changes we need to do so both drivers can come back stronger tomorrow,” Vowles said. - **JS**