So what does that all mean? In terms of the racing, the distance, the conditions and the tyre changes should make for a better event than the sprint. There’s only one Red Bull at the front, so especially if Verstappen struggles off the line again then the Ferraris may be able to combine. But Antonelli in fourth is still heading towards the title.

Verstappen again, hoping for a better start. That could be critical and it should be dry, unlike Malaysia and the sprint.

To paraphrase, Hamilton said that the track evolved and he didn’t react quite in the right way. He hopes he and Leclerc, as a Ferrari team, can put Verstappen under pressure.

And now Hamilton. “Another difficult Q3. Congrats to Max. We made some changes going into qualifying. Q1 and Q2 awesome. We got to Q3 and snaps into 1 and 3 … Finding that sweet spot is very, very dfficult.”

Leclerc now. “The good lap was on the right lap at the end but I had a lot of problems in this qualifying. Q1 and Q2 I had some weird things going on … There was a potential to be on pole today but Max did a better job.”

Red Bull’s early-season woes are in the rear-view mirror. “We have been on a positive trend, so it’s really special to take a pole here.”

Verstappen gives his verdict. “It was good. Just very close. The margins are very close between us throughout the whole of qualifying, so very happy … This was the one that I wanted.”

Hamilton is pipped by Leclerc!

Final laps now. Norris through in 5th.

Only the Mercedes pair out there.

Hamilton was so close to a wall.

Hamilton is only second fastest, 0.123 behind Verstappen, with Antonelli just behind him, 0.189.

Norris can manage only third, +0.339, and Piastri fourth, +0.820.

Leclerc puts in a decent time, 1:31.661.

Verstappen first to set a time, 1:31.373.

Q3 is go. Verstappen out early.

Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies agrees with David Croft that it will be a Hamilton v Verstappen battle for pole.

Russell up to sixth fastest there.

Colapinto bounces off a wall! Gasly up to 8th, dropping Hulkenberg in.

Better for Red Bull’s survivor: Verstappen 0.110 behind Hamilton in second now. No movement on the drop zone.

Hamilton faster still: 1:31.529. He is really enjoying this.

Norris has now gone second fastest – 0.129 behind Hamilton. Their teammates are down in 6th and 7th, with Piastri ahead of Leclerc.

Alonso is taking a new engine. I think that lifts Russell to 21st and Hadjar to 20th, but I’m not sure.

The drop zone is shaping up as Gasly, Ocon, Bearman, Sainz, Colapinto and Bortoleto.

Verstappen splits the two Mercedes, 0.526 behind Hamilton.

Russell puts in a 1:32.323, but Antonelli goes slightly quicker then Hamilton lands a 1:31.766.

Q2 under way. Russell still going, despite the fact he can’t improve his position. All educational for Mercedes.

It’s often hard to know what to make of Q1 for the leading teams, but this was pretty clearcut. Ferrari have 1st and 2nd, so will be really pleased; McLaren 3rd and 5th, which is decent; Red Bull 8th and 22nd, which is not what was planned; and Mercedes 12th and 13th, which is fairly terrible.

Antonelli is down in 12th. Repeated problems with track limits.

Liam Lawson goes fourth fastest for now.

But Hadjar’s qualifying race is run: he has set no time. He will be on the back row, alongside Russell.

Leclerc now pulls out second place, 0.094 behind Hamilton.

The stewards call it a 50-50 between their two drivers and will leave it to McLaren to handle. But now Hamilton produces a 1:32.680 to go faster.

More good news for Norris: no action over that coming together. More bad news for Hadjar: gear problems.

Piastri 0.029 behind as the McLaren teammates enjoy the start to qualifying more than the end to the sprint.

Finally we get some times. Norris 1:33.047 leads from Piastri and Verstappen.

But he too gets going again! Red flag avoided. A messy start to qualifying: Stroll also had a near-off.

And now Isack Hadjar says “the engine is off”. So much for his new power unit.

He is back going, at least. “I had no brakes. I don’t know what happened.”

And Esteban Ocon hits a barrier and we have a yellow flag already. Alas.

And off we go for Q1.

Still no news on whether Norris will be given a penalty by the stewards for taking out Piastri. Five seconds, he keeps eighth. Ten seconds, and Pierre Gasly and Alpine pick up a point.

It’s still very sticky, Ted Kravitz says, but at least it’s not wet.

For the second time today, portentous driver countdown time.

Isaac Hadjar, who had to park up during the sprint, has had a new powerunit installed. Good work from Red Bull.

At least there were no more blunders from the FIA during the sprint, but the two fastest men suggested that they had made another one previously, by staging the sprint at all:

Singapore’s Formula One circuit needs redesigning and lacks entertainment value for a sprint race, Saturday’s ⁠sprint winner, Max Verstappen, ⁠and the runner-up, Lewis ​Hamilton, said after the 20-lap race involved little overtaking …

“I think we shouldn’t host a sprint where you can’t pass,” Verstappen ⁠said. “I’m fine, I just do my thing... but it’s not ​what I like. The overtake mode, it barely ‌does anything here. You don’t really ‌gain a lot on the straights ... we need to have a longer straight or like more of a ‌proper hairpin to overtake …”

Hamilton said: “I love the race here, [but] I was just saying to Max, I think they need to change the track to maybe a longer straight somewhere in order to ​allow it to be truly a great racing circuit.

“It’s a great track to drive over a single lap and qualifying, but ... there’s like one place, really, that you could potentially get close to overtaking. I thought it was fun, but if it was dry, that would have been probably the most boring race for you to have ⁠watched. It was the rain, that made it exciting.” Reuters

Meanwhile, our Giles Richards has been in touch to say I was wrong to echo the claims on Sky and from David Coulthard that Max Verstappen had now claimed some sort of win at every circuit: the arrival of the Madring means he hasn’t won at every current track and he raced in Istanbul and Russia, no longer on the calendar, without success too.

And I’m back for the delayed qualifying. I have had a quieter break since the sprint than McLaren, for sure, who have been patching up both cars, while Mercedes have been giving George Russell’s vehicle a new gearbox and rear.

Talking of McLaren, Lando Norris has been on the naughty step, I guess. The same Lando Norris who was apoplectic Franco Colapinto shouldn’t be in F1 after the Argentinian took out the Briton in Azerbaijan.

Antonelli now leading by 89 points overall from Russell.

Apologies, initially had Piastri in those standings instead of Hulkenberg.

Stella with a face like thunder, apparently, as he stormed in. Ted Kravitz points out the damage in the constructors’ standings, where McLaren could slip from champions to fourth.

Will McLaren be left to sort it out? Or will the stewards take action. Zak Brown and Andrea Stella refuse to take questions.

Back to Norris’s crash. Piastri says he’s not that bothered, given what was at stake – fourth and fifth in a sprint. But that’s quite damning for Norris. Why did he make a high-risk move for such a low reward?

It’s only eight points. “I want to win tomorrow, not today.” Verstappen bats away compliments over winning on every circuit – sprints don’t really count.

And now Verstappen, who has now won on every F1 track he has competed on. “The start was horrendous again, so that’s obviously something we need to improve on, because if you have something like that tomorrow that’s your race over … But we got a bit lucky with what happened with George … After that you just want to keep it a bit calm. You can’t pass around here, especially in conditions like this with the intermediates.”

Hamilton’s turn. “As soon as the heavens opened, ‘This is a great day.’ I tried to get close to him [Verstappen] without killing my tyres, I was reining him in.” But then the tyre problems kicked in and “it’s a tough track to overtake”.

David Coulthard talks to Leclerc first and asks about tyre degradation. “Struggled a lot from mid-race onwards … When it dried up I was nowhere.” He was relieved the McLarens messed up as he was really struggling.

What a mixed set of results for most teams. Only Ferrari of the leading quartet brought two cars home.

Norris says “Sorry about that. Obviously I didn’t want that to happen. But I thought I was alongside, I just ran out of space.”

The problem for the McLaren pair was that Antonelli was so close to Norris that he almost had to push. But that was a mess for them. He did get going again and took eighth. Piastri will be angry.

As Brundle says, McLaren will be furious.

20/20. Norris and Piastri make contact and spin!

19/20. Antonelli closing on Norris, but running out of track, and is it worth gambling for one point?

Does Verstappen have some problems? Hamilton gaining but 3.7 back. Boost problems for the Dutchman, apparently.

17/20. This is drifting. Except Norris is closing on Piastri. But Brundle points out that the McLarens can’t afford any contact in this tight run of races.

Alex Albon is out now and under investigation for the Bortoleto incident.

A couple of points of consolation for Russell. It was only the sprint, not the main race, and the damage did not seem to be too bad. But he will be starting from the back tomorrow and is seeing right now how difficult overtaking can be, albeit on intermediates in drying conditions.

Brundle pours, er, cold water on the idea of anyone changing to slicks, because to overtake you would need to go off-line, which means you would find water. “We just want to see something, to be honest,” says Croft.

12/20. Verstappen is now 2.6 clear of Hamilton. Are we going from carnage to a procession?

Antonelli making no progress in the surviving Mercedes. 2.1 behind Norris and the only place he has gained is because of Russell’s exit.

Bortoleto and Bottas out. Seven gone, and as Croft says that’s a sprint race record.

Hamilton reports “The track is fine. It’s drying, but it’s still wet … tiny wet in some places.” Will it get dry enough to merit a change of tyres?

Hamilton has been noted for a yellow flag infringement. Details unclear.

“Silly mistake, big consequences,” Russell admits.

Hamilton is 1.1 behind Verstappen but 1.7 clear of Leclerc.

Albon goes into the back of Bortoleto and both pit.

Tyre management will now mean they need to seek out water, to keep the intermediates cool, Brundle points out.

Lap 7/20. Verstappen ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, then the two McLarens led by Piastri. Antonelli sixth.

The safety car is off. And away goes Verstappen back in the lead.

Colapinto and Perez also out.

We will back racing shortly.

“Bleep. Sorry.” “Are you all right?” “Ah … Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, sorry, sorry.” In a year of misfortunes, that was simply an error by Russell, unfortunately. White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It).

Stroll went off, trying to go past Perez.

The cars trundle through the pit lane as they clean up the Mercedes on the start-finish straight. Stroll also out. And Hadjar too! Antonelli is told that Russell touched a white line and that was his undoing.

What a disappointment for the Mercedes man. Brundle reckons the standing water on the kerbs was his undoing as he went wide.

We are clean, what a great start by everyone, really.

Russell takes the lead before turn one! Hamilton up to third!

We are lining up on the grid, bar Sainz.

The humidity in Singapore is high and there’s no sunshine, so the track will dry slowly.

Looks like we should have a standing start.

The on-board cameras are showing considerable spray still.

And the formation laps are under way. Standing water on turn three is the FIA’s concern.

Dave Estherby is in touch:

Hi Philip,

Really, again?

Anyone who thinks racing in the wet is too dangerous would do well to YouTube Ryu Kiyonari at Donington 2008 on a motorcycle.

You can see what Dave means …

We will have two formation laps between the safety car … is that at all related to last week’s fun and games, and worries about the software in wet conditions?

Laurent Mekies, the Red Bull team principal, talks about the trade-off between conditions at the start and how they will be when they finish.

The medical car is no longer throwing up much water at all. We could be off soon. Indeed the FIA says that we will be off at 10.30am BST!

Martin Brundle suggests northern Europeans have an advantage in the rain, because of the conditions they grow up driving in.

Karun Chandhok summons up the start of the 2017 race, the last time it was wet in Singapore. Absolute carnage, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel sandwiching Verstappen then the Finn taking out the Dutchman and Fernando Alonso at the first corner.

The medical car goes round to assess conditions. It’s throwing up spray, as you’d expect, with it quickly disappearing from sight. Martin Brundle points out that with a street circuit there are tunnels and bridges, meaning some sections will be briefly dry.

Ferrari are trying to clean things up in Leclerc’s car. Ted Kravitz reports that the storm is actually on its way north, towards Sepang.

The drivers are sitting in their cars patiently. David Croft suggests that the rain was somewhat localised, and variable track conditions will make things trickier.

But nothing can delay the portentous driver countdown, not even a down-pore …

The rain has caught a lot of teams by surprise: only now are they rushing out the canopies. Charles Leclerc will have a soggy seat, it seems.

Ollie Bearman comes out as a weather radar denier, only for reality to arrive. “It’s biblical,” says Simon Lazenby.

In the pit lane, George Russell says he has been told rain is a couple of minutes away. That could spice up the sprint. Jenson Button says it’s not. And up go the umbrellas …

The Red Bull garage is looking happier with its improvements. It’s surely too late for this season, but their car is looking good for the closing races – and for 2027. Giles Richards assessed their progress early in the week:

In the opening period of the season, the RB22 was nowhere, deficient in almost every department. It lacked pace, balance, even consistency, and for all his skill Max Verstappen seemed powerless. He described it as feeling like a passenger in the car at times …

Their progress stands as testament to a team working collectively to tremendous effect. It is an achievement that must be acknowledged alongside building their own engine for the first time and delivering a win; a feat that is recognised across the paddock as perhaps beyond expectations and which was far from guaranteed to be successful as Honda, with more experience, have demonstrated all too clearly this season.

Since he wrote that, Verstappen has followed up last weekend’s win with sprint pole.

Looking at the standings, Kimi Antonelli has nothing to worry about. He’s the championship leader by 84 points, and from his cursed teammate. But the sprint grid doesn’t look so healthy, with him in seventh. Giles Richards takes up the story:

Mercedes have further complications in Singapore. The upgrades they brought to Malaysia did not prove effective and have left the team somewhat perplexed as to why they had not delivered. They opted, with Russell’s approval, to split their options this weekend with the British driver reverting to the spec with which he had won in Baku and Antonelli running the new version in order to provide an insight into where the developments were wanting.

In qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race, Russell was clearly enjoying his pre-upgrade ride more than his teammate. He took second on the grid with Antonelli only in seventh, while Max Verstappen took an excellent pole to back up his win at Sepang. Antonelli certainly felt he was somewhat under the cosh in Singapore with a car far removed from what he is used to. “There is still a lot to understand about this package, the car is very difficult, very unpredictable,” he said. “I was coming in with high hopes but so far it has been very difficult. It’s going to be a difficult weekend, it’s going to be very tricky. I don’t see where we can find seven-tenths.”

Antonelli’s seventh place was Mercedes’ worst qualifying performance of the season, David Croft observes.

And here are the drivers’ championship standings

1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 320 pts
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 236
3 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 214
4 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 191
5 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 188
6 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 188
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 128
8 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull 96
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 65
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 41
11 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 38
12 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 27
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 20
14 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 10
15 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 7
16 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 7
17 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 7
18 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 7
19 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 5
20 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1

Yet to score:
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac
Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac

So, half an hour to go till the sprint race. Here’s the grid:

1 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 1:31.156
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 1:31.276
3 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 1:31.399
4 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 1:31.454
5 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 1:31.587
6 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 1:31.702
7 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 1:31.849
8 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 1:31.849
9 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull DNF
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine DNF

Q2 eliminations
11 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 1:33.249
12 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 1:33.420
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 1:33.423
14 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 1:33.466
15 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 1:33.734
16 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 1:34.368

Q1 eliminations
17 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 1:35.136
18 Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin 1:36.130
19 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 1:36.130
20 Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac 1:36.760
21 Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac 1:36.868
22 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 1:37.376

The unhappy Sainz will start from the pit lane after some work done on his car in parc fermé.