Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz clinched pole position during the 2023 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Grand Prix.

He will be starting first on the grid on Sunday (Sep. 17).

Lining up behind him on the grid are Mercedes' George Russell in second and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in third.

Set to win this year's championship is two time world champion Max Verstappen, who is currently going for his 11th consecutive race win, having broken the record previously held by Sebastian Vettel for the most consecutive wins in a season.

However, Red Bull looked to be on the back foot this weekend, culminating in the shock exits of both their drivers Verstappen and last year's race winner Sergio Perez in Q2.

Red Bull have won every single race in the 2023 season. This record, along with Verstappen's consecutive win streak, are left vulnerable.

The unforgiving concrete barriers and winding corners make Singapore a hard circuit to overtake at, hence achieving a good qualifying position is paramount for all of the 20 drivers on the circuit.

Q1 summary

Canadian driver Lance Stroll, who drivers for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 team, suffered a heavy crash at Turn 19 during the final minutes of Q1, bringing out the red flag.

In a season with relatively minimal big crashes, Stroll's crash was an anomaly, and the crowd sighed in relief as he emerged from the car unassisted.

His crash, however, ended the session prematurely, and caused Mclaren driver Oscar Piastri's shock exit.

Drivers out:

16th: Valterri Bottas

17th: Oscar Piastri

18th: Logan Sargeant

19th: Zhou Guanyu

20th: Lance Stroll

Q2 summary

The biggest shock of the night was when both Red Bull drivers were knocked out in Q2.

On their final Q2 laps, Verstappen failed to improve his position, and remained in 10th before Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Liam Lawson knocked the Dutchman down to 11th and out of qualifying.

After the session, Verstappen was seen angrily storming off from his garage.

Meanwhile, Sergio Perez lost control briefly on his final lap, which caused his final lap to be aborted.

Red Bull, who have dominated this season, predicted a difficult weekend in Singapore, but no one predicted the abysmal result.

Last year, Verstappen qualified in 8th, but only managed to improve to 7th, a testament to the difficulty of overtaking in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Drivers out: 

11th: Max Verstappen

12th: Pierre Gasly

13th: Sergio Perez

14th: Alexander Albon

15th: Yuki Tsunoda

Q3 summary

The session culminated in an thrilling battle between the two Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc, Mclaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes' Russell.

Ferrari, who looked strong all weekend, put their times at the top of the leaderboard at the start of the session, with Sainz leading from Leclerc.

During their final runs, Sainz managed to set his pole lap of 1 minute 30.984 seconds.

Norris initially came in second, before Leclerc overtook his position.

Russell then came in to split the two Ferrari's coming in just 0.072 seconds slower than the Spaniard.

Top 10 lineup:

1st: Carlos Sainz

2nd: George Russell

3rd: Charles Leclerc

4th: Lando Norris

5th: Lewis Hamilton

6th: Kevin Magnussen

7th: Fernando Alonso

8th: Esteban Ocon

9th: Nico Hülkenberg

10th: Liam Lawson

Top photos via Formula 1/X and Singapore GP Pte Ltd