SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday after a furious Max Verstappen was forced to abandon his fastest lap for fear of running out of fuel.
The Monegasque lapped the five-km Marina Bay track under the floodlights in one minute 49.412 seconds but was set to be usurped by his Red Bull rival.
Verstappen was lighting up the timing screens behind Leclerc and, having traded fastest laps with the Ferrari driver and Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton during the final phase of qualifying, had saved his best for last on a drying track.
But the Dutchman was forced to settle for eighth on the grid after Red Bull ordered him to abort his pole shot in a major blow to his hopes of wrapping up a second successive title on Sunday with five races to spare.
The 24-year-old also started on pole the last time Formula One visited Singapore in 2019, finishing second behind then team mate Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari one-two.
He is in the perfect place to go one better on Sunday but will have to fend off a challenge from Perez and Hamilton, who will be hunting for his first win of the season from third on the grid.
Verstappen unleashed a fiery, expletive-laden outburst over the radio after being called in to the pits.
He later explained that Red Bull had been worried that he might not have had enough fuel to provide the mandatory post-session fuel sample had he carried on.
Carlos Sainz will start fourth for Ferrari ahead of fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso in his Alpine. Lando Norris lines up sixth for McLaren.