Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has secured pole position for Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, but Championship leader Max Verstappen is down on the fourth row of the grid.
With Verstappen on the brink of successfully defending his world title, Leclerc realistically requires maximum points this weekend to keep any kind of pressure on his rival.
After Saturday's qualifying, it is so far so good with pole being earned in dramatic style, the top four on the grid being separated by 15 hundredths of a second.
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez will join Leclerc on the front row, while Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in his Mercedes.
Carlos Sainz Jr is fourth in the second Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris delighted with their fifth and sixth respectively in the Alpine and McLaren.
However, there was drama with Verstappen, who appeared to be well on course to moving ahead of Leclerc on the grid when on his final hot lap.
Instead, his Red Bull team requested that he abort the lap, much to the annoyance of the Dutchman, and it later emerged that he required enough fuel to fulfil the designated criteria after the session.
Mercedes driver George Russell was eliminated in Q2, only ending as 11th quickest after admitting to struggling with his car in the opening two sessions. body check tags ::
