FACTS AND STATS: Norris ends McLaren’s Singapore drought to take first pole since 2012 as he lines up alongside Verstappen

Lando Norris snatched a confident pole position at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, his first at this track as the McLaren man appeared the most comfortable over the round’s opening two days. It was a solid qualifying for the papaya team as Oscar Piastri slotted into fifth, but Norris will have to face the threat of Max Verstappen alone on the front row.

Ferrari, on the other hand, suffered a disappointing session at the tail end of the top 10, while some midfield drivers set stunning lap times to qualify ahead of the more traditional frontrunners. Here are the best facts and stats from qualifying in Singapore…

• Norris claimed McLaren’s first pole position at Marina Bay since Lewis Hamilton did so in his final season for the team back in 2012.
• It’s his sixth Grand Prix pole of his career, but the Briton has never led the first lap from pole in that time.
• Verstappen was two-tenths slower than Norris, but his P2 start marks just his second front row start in the last seven races.

READ MORE: Norris beats Verstappen to pole for Singapore GP after Sainz crashes out

• Speaking of front row starts, it’s the Dutchman’s first in Singapore since 2018, when he was beaten by Hamilton.
• The front row is identical to this season’s Dutch Grand Prix, when Verstappen took the lead at the start but was later passed by Norris for the win.
• Hamilton has maintained his record of qualifying in the top five at all 15 Singapore Grands Prix.
• The former world champion also out-qualified his team mate George Russell for just the fifth time this season.
• It’s Hamilton’s first top-three start since the Belgian Grand Prix, which he went on to win after Russell’s disqualification.

• It was a strong result for Mercedes as this marks the first time both drivers will start in the top four since they locked out the front row at Silverstone.
• For Piastri, it was a question of what could have been, as his Q2 lap time of 1m 29.640s would have given McLaren a front row lockout.
• Nico Hulkenberg was sixth, continuing Haas’s streak of starting in the top six in Singapore after Kevin Magnussen qualified in the same position in 2023.
• Ferrari’s frustrating result allows Hulkenberg to claim the status of the fastest Ferrari-powered qualifier as he took his best start on his 11th visit to Singapore.
• Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso secured P7, which he has done four times in the last six Grands Prix.

READ MORE: ‘It’s a nightmare’ – Disappointed Perez explains Q2 exit in Singapore

• After a tough run of races, Yuki Tsunoda sealed his best ever start in Singapore after making it to Q3 for just the second time in the last nine Grands Prix.
• With Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz rounding out the top 10, it was Ferrari’s worst two-car qualifying performance in Singapore since 2009, when Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella started from P13 and P18.
• Sainz went from winning at this track in 2023 to crashing out dramatically in Q3.

• It was a tight qualifying for Williams as Alex Albon missed out on Q3 by just 0.024s, with Franco Colapinto 0.007s slower than him.
• Albon was 11th, marking his best start in Singapore since 2019 when he qualified in sixth for Red Bull.
• It’s also Williams’ highest qualifying at the circuit since Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa started in P11 and P12 in 2016.
• Sergio Perez was knocked out in Q2, replicating his P13 qualifying from the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
• Across the 12 races he has competed in at Marina Bay, Perez has only reached Q3 on three occasions.
• Kevin Magnussen was 14th, dropping eight places from his 2023 qualifying performance in Singapore.

READ MORE: ‘That wasn’t fun’ – Ricciardo reflects on painful Q1 exit in Singapore amid speculation over his future

• Esteban Ocon was 15th, his third time in that position in the last four Grands Prix.
• Daniel Ricciardo suffered his first back-to-back Q1 eliminations in 2024, with six Q1 exits in total this season.
• Lance Stroll was 17th, enduring his fifth Q1 elimination in six visits to Singapore.
• Pierre Gasly experienced his worst career qualifying performance at this circuit, setting the 18th-fastest time.
• Since Bottas joined Sauber in 2022, he has been knocked out in Q1 in every trip to Singapore.
• Zhou Guanyu was the slowest driver in qualifying for the fifth consecutive race weekend.