F1 Singapore GP LIVE: Qualifying result as Lando Norris claims brilliant pole position

Now we get going with the second stage of qualifying: 15 minutes and we will again lose the slowest five drivers ahead of the top-10 shootout!

Will we get any surprise eliminations here? Max Verstappen was knocked out in Q2 last year in Singapore!

When handed a second chance in Formula One last summer, Daniel Ricciardo had his aspirations set higher than a paltry seat at Red Bull’s sister team. As he told The Independent, the effervescent Australian made no secret of his desire to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull, with 2025 a realistic target. Yet what matters in this sport – beyond a joyous expression and personality – is two-fold: the stopwatch and the standings.

Ricciardo, try as he might, has not been up to scratch on both. A crying shame, for his fans and fans of the sport. Heading into round 18 of the 2024 season in Singapore this weekend, the 35-year-old is 14th in the championship standings but, more significantly, languishes 10 points behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

And so we arrive to now, with Ricciardo’s F1 future on the verge of disintegration once again.

Full piece below:

1. Max Verstappen - 313 points

2. Lando Norris - 254 points (-59)

3. Charles Leclerc - 235 points

4. Oscar Piastri - 222 points

5. Carlos Sainz - 184 points

6. Lewis Hamilton - 166 points

7. Sergio Perez - 143 points

8. George Russell - 128 points

9. Fernando Alonso - 58 points

10. Lance Stroll - 24 points

11. Nico Hulkenberg - 22 points

12. Yuki Tsunoda - 22 points

13. Alex Albon - 12 points

14. Daniel Ricciardo - 12 points

15. Pierre Gasly - 8 points

16. Oliver Bearman - 7 points

16. Kevin Magnussen - 6 points

18. Esteban Ocon - 5 points

19. Franco Colapinto - 4 points

20. Zhou Guanyu - 0 points

21. Logan Sargeant - 0 points

22. Valtteri Bottas - 0 points

F1’s governing body has told McLaren to modify its “mini-DRS” rear-wing after an appeal from Red Bull.

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Max Verstappen has been told to “accomplish some work of public interest” in an odd ruling by the stewards after swearing during Thursday’s FIA press conference in Singapore.

The Red Bull driver, who leads this year’s world championship by 59 points to Lando Norris, has not won in seven races and struggled last week in Azerbaijan.

When asked about his car in Baku, Verstappen replied that he knew “the car was f*****” and was warned about his language by the moderator.

After being called to see the stewards on Friday, with a meeting lasting around 15 minutes, the decision reached by the stewards was an “obligation to accomplish some work of public interest.”

Full story below:

Lewis Hamilton has called out FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for a comment referring to rappers when discussing the broadcast of swearing in Formula One races – saying they had a “racial element” to them.

Ben Sulayem, head of F1’s governing body, says he has asked Formula 1 to limit the amount of swearing – usually from drivers over team radio – on TV coverage of races. Swear words are currently bleeped out before being broadcast.

The 62-year-old Emirati executive said: “We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music. We’re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That’s them and we are [us].”

Full story below:

1. McLaren - 476 points

2. Red Bull - 456 points

3. Ferrari - 425 points

4. Mercedes - 309 points

5. Aston Martin - 82 points

6. RB - 34 points

7. Haas - 29 points

8. Williams - 16 points

9. Alpine - 13 points

Max Verstappen has been told to “accomplish some work of public interest” in an odd ruling by the stewards after swearing during Thursday’s FIA press conference in Singapore.

The Red Bull driver, who leads this year’s world championship by 59 points to Lando Norris, has not won in seven races and struggled last week in Azerbaijan.

When asked about his car in Baku, Verstappen replied that he knew “the car was f*****” and was warned about his language by the moderator.

After being called to see the stewards on Friday, with a meeting lasting around 15 minutes, the decision reached by the stewards was an “obligation to accomplish some work of public interest.”

Full story below:

“Anything we can do to help Lando, we’ll do,” he said. “We don’t want to compromise Oscar’s results. Race-by-race basis, two great drivers who are capable of winning races.”

On whether McLaren would swap drivers at the front: “Handing off a race win is a pretty difficult thing to do. We’ll take it one race at a time, it’s a pretty big ask of a grand prix driver. Lando wants to win the championship the right way, we still have a lot of racing to go. No one wants to inherit a win that way.

“Oscar is 30 or so points behind Lando, it will require some awesome weekends. You’re not looking at a driver too far back from Lando, that’s why we’ve got to take it one race at a time.”

Daniel Ricciardo admits his future in Formula One is shrouded in uncertainty ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.

Speculation is rife that a decision on RB’s 2025 drivers is expected in the next few weeks – due to a clause in Liam Lawson’s contract – and Ricciardo did not dismiss the rumours out of hand.

“I know how it is and how it works, and I knew there was always going to be some dates and deadlines this year, whether it was the summer break or now post-Singapore, so post-Singapore is the next one,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“Honestly, it’s still, so many things are up in the air. Let’s see how the weekend goes. Obviously, I’m going to give it all I can, as I have. There’s always something to fight for. We’ll see what happens. Try to get the thing on the podium, that’s my plan.”