F1 | Ferrari, a "flash" from Leclerc lights up Saturday's qualifying in Singapore

Charles Leclerc took the eleventh pole position of the season for Scuderia Ferrari in Singapore, ahead of Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton and teammate Carlos Sainz on a track made treacherous by the rain that fell up to two hours before qualifying. This is pole number 241 for the Scuderia and the ninth of the season for the Monegasque, the eighteenth of his career which allows him to join three former Ferrari drivers such as Mario Andretti, René Arnoux and Kimi Räikkönen.

Treacherous track. Qualifying was among the most complicated of the season: in fact, the track never completely dried after the downpour that hit the circuit at the start of the third free practice session, due to the high level of humidity – 82% – present in the air. So Charles and Carlos, like the rest of the group, had to face the first two phases with Intermediate tires supported in the various choices by the engineers who constantly monitored the evolution of the track. Having reached Q3, the drivers finally managed to get out on track with slick tires even though several sections of the route remained very damp which made the final even more of a lottery. In those excited moments, the best at extricating himself from the walls of Marina Bay was Charles Leclerc who on his last attempt stopped the clocks at a time of 1'49"412, a limit that remained unbeaten by all his rivals who also came very close . Perez finished 22 thousandths behind him, Hamilton 54, while Carlos was achieving an even better time in his last attempt until, in turn 16, a small skid made him lose the advantage he had. However, the Spaniard continued to push, crossing the finish line in 1'49”583, 171 thousandths from pole position.

Long and complex race. Tomorrow Charles and Carlos are expected by a long race full of variables in which tire management, Safety Car entries and weather conditions can change the cards on the table. To further complicate the picture, there is also the fact that only a few riders had the opportunity to lap sufficiently in race configuration this weekend. Among those who have had the most limited mileage is Charles himself who will therefore have to rely on the data collected by his teammate in Friday's free practice.