Qualifying in Singapore: Red Bull disaster – Verstappen knocked out early

Once again, little is going on for Max Verstappen in Singapore. The Pole position goes to Carlos Sainz. A violent accident causes an interruption.

For Max Verstappen, Singapore remains a cursed place: he complained angrily over the radio and, completely disappointed, he stomped into the place after the early exit Motor home.

The 25-year-old Dutchman is threatened after ten Grand Prix-Successes in a row will mark the end of the record series. The competition is hoping for more than ever Marina Bay Street Circuitt for the first win by a non-Red Bull driver this year.

On a day to forget for the industry leader, Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Pérez also failed in the desperate fight to at least get into the top ten – for the first time since Russia 2018. In a rousing, surprising and sometimes chaotic and dangerous qualification with a difficult one Carlos Sainz crashed into the accident like he did two weeks ago in Monza Poles.

Hülkenberg in the top ten

His Ferrariteamcolleague Charles Leclerc came in third place. There was something in between George Russell in the Mercedes. Nico Hülkenberg also made it into the top ten in the Haas in ninth place after a difficult one Crash from Lance Stroll caused a longer interruption.

Verstappen didn’t exude a lot of confidence even before the start of the knockout phase. His interim conclusion: “The weekend has been problematic so far.” But he had no idea that it would be so bad on Saturday. “It is strange”said Red Bulls Team boss Christian Horner at the TV station “Sky. “The race will be tough.” At least Verstappen was spared a grid penalty. In three cases he and one had to teamrepresentatives in front of the race stewards. The result was two warnings for Verstappen and a 5,000 euro fine for him team.

The Dutchman, who has otherwise been so dominant this year, had not come first in any of the previous three training sessions. The deficit, especially on the two Ferrari drivers, was sometimes significant. “Unacceptable”he had in the one-hour practice session before Qualifying scolded for problems with shifting.

But it wasn’t just a strenuous hunt for a starting position for Verstappen. 9 p.m. local time and the air temperature was still 30 degrees, plus 78 percent humidity: various ice barrels were already waiting for the pilots in the paddock. But the cooling down still had to wait. When it started, nobody wanted to waste much time.

Stroll after crash: “I’m okay”

On a narrow street circuit like in Singapore there is always the risk of interruptions due to accidents. There was a lot of activity on the slightly modified and faster 4.94 kilometer course. “There are so many cars”Verstappen raged.

One of them didn’t quite make it back into the box. When the time was already up, Stroll crashed his Aston Martin into the barriers at high speed just before the finish line. The car was thrown back onto the track, the nose was completely destroyed, the left wheel suspension and half of the side pod were torn off or severely demolished. “I am OK“Stroll, who had gotten out without help, reassured him Medical Center but was first examined along the route. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to start this Sunday (2 p.m. CEST) after the severe impact.

Because a lot of fluid had leaked out of the car and the barriers had to be rebuilt, the interruption lasted a good half an hour. Time for Verstappen to cool down a bit after various rants over the radio. However, it then came out that he was being investigated. Despite the green lights in the pit lane, he initially didn’t drive off. And Verstappen also came into the focus of the race stewards because of a possible hindrance to his Alpha Tauri colleague Yuki Tsunoda.