Singapore GP:

Second Row Lock Out for the Silver Arrows

As is customary in Singapore, FP3 took place in warmer and less representative conditions than the floodlit qualifying session. As a result, the track temperature dropped five degrees by the time of Q1.

In FP3, Lewis felt there was 'night and day' difference in the car compared to Friday's practice. By Q1, however, the different conditions had reversed that, with George reporting a lack of grip at the rear.

Both drivers completed two runs on fresh Soft tyres and made it through to Q2 - Lewis in P4, George in P13. The track continued to develop well during Qualifying, with the times getting quicker and quicker.

In Q2, our duo again completed two runs on Soft tyres. In the first attempt on a new set of Softs, Lewis took P1 and George P3. Thanks to the good times of both drivers, they were able to run on used Soft tyres in the second run of Q2 and made it safely through to Q3.

The team now has until Sunday morning to analyse the data for the race, which starts at 13:00 BST (20:00 local time).

George Russell

If you had told us yesterday that we would qualify on the second row of the grid, we would have absolutely taken that. With the improvements we made overnight though, and how the car felt in FP3, I would have reconsidered. I was feeling super confident in the car, and everything was coming easily. That feeling deserted us in Q1 though and I would have bitten your hand off for P4. We were suffering from a lack of grip and were only just able to progress through each segment to Q3. I was able to put in a decent lap though once we were there and overall, we can’t be disappointed with where we have ended the day.

We can ultimately see today as a good recovery. Yesterday, we were on course to be mired in the midfield and yet here we are with a second-row lock-out. We would love to be starting further forward but the team has done a great job to get us back on track so a big thank you to them. Hopefully we can go on the attack tomorrow and fight for the podium.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

After a challenging Friday, it is satisfying to have both cars on the second row after a qualifying session where it would have been easy to finish much further down the order. Our teams back in Brackley and Brixworth did a great job overnight to provide direction for FP3, and as soon as we hit the track, it was clear that both cars were in a much happier place.

Qualifying here is always frantic – with rapidly improving track grip in the early stages and the potential jeopardy of yellow or red flags. We had managed to keep two sets of new Soft tyres for Q3, but Sainz’s accident and the subsequent red flag meant that we only had one shot at it in the final stages. Both Lewis and George did their quickest laps of the weekend to claim the second row and set us up strongly for tomorrow. It’s always a demanding race here in Singapore and managing the rear tyres will be key tomorrow evening. Safety Cars can offer opportunities to offset or do something different, as we saw last year, and we will be aiming to race for the podium and solid points after some challenging Grands Prix since the summer break.