F1 Singapore GP live updates: Lando Norris claims pole ...

McLaren's Lando Norris claimed Singapore Grand Prix pole today in the sweltering streets of Marina Bay — and put even more pressure on Red Bull and Max Verstappen in the process as Formula One's season approaches a thrilling finish.

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"I clearly underestimated — or, in this case, overestimated — the grip from a very cold tire," Sainz said, noting he had to back off a few times in the out lap to let cars by. He also hit a bump in Turn 17 while launching the lap, which helped him spin out.

Sainz will start tenth tomorrow.

Max Verstappen called the FIA’s decision to sanction him for swearing “ridiculous” after appearing to protest the call by giving deliberately short answers in its news conference and telling journalists he would prefer to talk to them elsewhere.

On Friday, Verstappen was told he must complete community service for the FIA as punishment for swearing in Thursday’s pre-Singapore Grand Prix news conference arranged by Formula One’s governing body.

In Singapore on Saturday, Verstappen appeared at the FIA news conference for the top three qualifiers after taking P2 on the grid behind title rival Lando Norris and gave deliberately brief answers.

He initially stopped outside the news conference room, but the FIA’s media delegate instructed him to go to the media pen. Verstappen said he would walk and talk to the growing crowd of almost a dozen journalists, who followed the Dutchman down two flights of stairs and halfway down the paddock as he made his way to the TV pen.

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Max Verstappen calls F1 swearing sanction ‘ridiculous’ after staging news conference protest

Yesterday, Max Verstappen was punished for swearing during Thursday's news conference. This was part of the FIA's crackdown on drivers cursing over team radios or FIA news conferences. Verstappen said his car was "f---ed" in an irritated response to a question about what he could or could not say over team radios under such a clampdown.

During the post-qualifying news conference on Saturday, Verstappen refused to say more than a few words in response to questions, saying he'd prefer to speak to reporters outside. That led to a big group of reporters, including The Athletic's Luke Smith, following Verstappen into the paddock to talk to him. Here's what he had to say then:

???? I find it, of course, ridiculous what happened, so why should I then give full answers because it is very easy, apparently, that you get a fine or some sort of penalty, so I prefer then not to speak a lot, save my voice, and of course, we can do the interviews also somewhere else.

???? ... they (the FIA) want to set a precedent. People got warnings or a little fine, and now, with me, they want to set an even bigger example, I guess, which for me is a bit weird, of course, because I didn’t swear at anyone particularly; I just said one thing about my car.

We'll have more from this encounter on the site soon. In the meantime, you can read up on the punishment that has irked Verstappen below.

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Max Verstappen ordered to complete public interest work for inappropriate language at Singapore Grand Prix

I think we're going to avoid any wrangling with the stewards, because Max Verstappen did manage to improve on his final lap compared to his deleted time by 0.063 seconds. Both laps would have been good enough for second on the grid behind Norris.

Given how much Red Bull has struggled of late, and how doubtful Verstappen was of his chances here, that's a really fantastic lap

Besides Piastri and Hulkenberg, who got times on the board before the red flag, everyone is going to get just one timed lap in Q3. A one-lap shootout to settle the fight for pole under the lights.

Verstappen was on the radio asking why his lap time was deleted. He did lift before the line, as he told GP on the radio the moment that he was told it's a red flag, and crossed before it went red.

GP says, "We're just looking into that, Max."

Carlos Sainz is out of qualifying. He's crashed at the final corner, and we're under a red flag. Sainz was actually trying to get out of the way of Oscar Piastri and then speed up before Max Verstappen came in. With cold tires and a bit of dirty air, he's slung into the wall.

Verstappen's lap time has been deleted for double yellow flags shown for Sainz's crash.