Carlos Sainz claimed pole at the Marina Bay circuit for Ferrari with a mighty lap between the walls, the Spaniard well and truly hooked up for his second pole in a row. Verstappen and Red Bull in contrast were flailing, impotent with a recalcitrant car lacking the balance and grip that has defined it as the class of the field this season. Verstappen finished in 11th, while his teammate, Sergio Pérez, who was equally at sea, spun out managing 13th. It is the first time since the Russian GP in 2018 that Red Bull has not put a car into Q3, a failure all the more significant given their utter dominance this season. Verstappen has struggled all weekend, unhappy with the balance of his car and unusually lacking rear grip, which made it a handful to drive. Verstappen has won the past 10 races, a record, while Red Bull are undefeated all season. Verstappen said it mattered little whether he started 11th, 15th or 20th but a grid penalty would have been a galling finale to an already disastrous day. He finished with a time of 1min 30.984sec but was seven-hundredths clear of Russell and Leclerc.

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