Max Verstappen keeps pole for the Singapore Sprint after stewards ruled he breached the yellow-flag regulation when he passed Lewis Hamilton in Sprint Qualifying but imposed no penalty, calling the move an unfortunate consequence of a large closing speed. George Russell starts alongside him.
Singapore: Sprint Qualifying at Marina Bay ended with Max Verstappen on pole and a question hanging over whether he should still be there. The answer, from the stewards, was a ruling that fits neither of the usual boxes: a breach confirmed, a penalty withheld.
Yellow flags in SQ1
The trouble came in the first phase of the session. After an incident involving Sergio Pérez’s Cadillac, single waved yellow flags went out. Verstappen, on a push lap, passed Hamilton in the yellow-flag sector between Turns 7 and 8. Hamilton told his team that Verstappen had overtaken him under yellow flags, and the stewards opened an investigation.
What the stewards found
Verstappen’s explanation was that he was on the throttle out of Turn 7, saw the yellow and lifted. Telemetry backed him: he was fully off the throttle within about 40 metres of entering the sector. Hamilton, by then, had slowed sharply, dropping below 60 km/h at the point of the pass, and the stewards were satisfied he had reacted correctly.
The gap between the two cars was the problem. Verstappen’s speed at the overtake was about 70 km/h lower than on another push lap in the same session, yet the closing speed was still significant. Avoiding the pass altogether would have needed very heavy braking, which Verstappen argued could have created an unsafe situation. The stewards found a breach of the yellow-flag regulation, but described the pass as an unfortunate consequence of the significant closing speed differential and applied no penalty.
Russell alongside on the front row
That left Verstappen on pole for the Sprint, with Russell second. Russell managed it in an older-spec Mercedes. Verstappen arrives in Singapore having won the rain-hit race at Sepang for his first victory of the 2026 season.
Heat, a Sprint and a Grand Prix to come
The Sprint is on Saturday and the Grand Prix follows on Sunday, with a heat hazard declared for both. Verstappen keeps his place at the front on the strength of telemetry and a stewards’ judgement call, and the ruling will be a talking point as the weekend continues.
Sprint Qualifying, Singapore: Pole: Max Verstappen (Red Bull); second: George Russell (Mercedes)
Stewards’ decision: Verstappen breached the yellow-flag regulation when passing Lewis Hamilton; no penalty applied
