Verstappen “happy to be on the front row” having been 15th in practice · RaceFans

Max Verstappen says he is “happy to be on the front row” despite being beaten to pole by championship rival Lando Norris in qualifying.

The championship leader missed out on pole by two tenths of a second after an eventful qualifying session in Singapore.

Despite being beaten to pole once again, Verstappen insists he is happy with the result as Red Bull appeared to lack pace compared to McLaren in practice. Verstappen was only 15th fastest at the end of practice on Friday.

“I think all of qualifying actually went quite well,” he said. “We managed to improve the car, run-after-run, already in FP3. I’m happy to be on the front row, if you look at where we came from yesterday.”

Verstappen suffered misfortune early in Q3 when Carlos Sainz Jnr crashed in front of him at the final corner. The Red Bull driver lifted off and completed his lap before the red flag stopped the session, but as he was registered on the FIA timing system as being in a double yellow flag zone as he passed through, his lap was automatically deleted in line with regulations.

“Q3 was tough,” he said. “Your lap gets, of course, cancelled with the double yellow, then everyone only has one run to do the lap, so you don’t want to overdo it. You want to stay within the limits. I’ll take second, I’m happy with that.”

Verstappen has not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June. He is hopeful that the long race around the Marina Bay street circuit may present opportunities to upset his rival ahead of him.

“Tomorrow, of course, a bit difficult to say,” he said. “In Singapore, a lot of things can happen, but at least we have a shot at it like this.”

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