Max Verstappen faces a fight to take pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix after calling his Red Bull “unacceptable” in final practice.
As Carlos Sainz raced to the top of the time charts at the Marina Bay Circuit, Verstappen finished fourth.
The Dutchman is on an unprecedented 10-race winning streak with his Red Bull team unbeaten at the 14 rounds of the season so far.
🏁 CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP3) 🏁
Carlos Sainz is quickest for the fifth time in the last eight F1 sessions 😤#SingaporeGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/AMFO90nm8d
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 16, 2023
But Verstappen bemoaned the handling of his car in the city-state, describing the upshifts in his Red Bull machinery as “unacceptable”.
He added: “These upshifts, what the f***. I am just struggling for rear grip. If I competed in drifting, I might win the race.”
Verstappen returned to the track in the closing moments of the one-hour running, ringing the neck of his Red Bull to move from sixth to fourth, 0.313 sec slower than Sainz.
FP3 🚀 One hour remaining to get prepped for Quali ☝️ pic.twitter.com/FXdSYTOc4Q
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 16, 2023
But his struggles will give the chasing pack hope of finally stopping Verstappen and Red Bull with Ferrari holding the upper hand heading into qualifying later on Saturday.
Sainz and team-mate Charles Leclerc traded top spot in the two practice sessions here on Friday, with the former again fastest in the concluding running before the fight for pole.
Leclerc looked set to eclipse Sainz only to make a mistake in the second sector before backing out of his speediest lap, finishing fifth.
That’s P1 and P2. Lewis slots into second, 0.2s shy of George’s fastest time so far on the Softs. 👏
Both drivers with encouraging feedback on the changes overnight. pic.twitter.com/Jxtxn3oAZA
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 16, 2023
George Russell took an encouraging second for Mercedes, just 0.069 sec slower than Sainz, with Lando Norris third in his McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was sixth for Mercedes, within half-a-second of Sainz.
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez, who won here last year, finished eighth, 0.719 sec back.
Qualifying for the 15th round of 22 takes place at 9pm local time (2pm Irish time).
By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Singapore
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