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The Mercedes team's George Russell took center stage from the championship fighters with a impressive pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix

The driver's initial pole position since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, which he won, was achieved by 0.182 seconds from the Red Bull team's Verstappen

McLaren's championship leader Piastri took P3, with his championship competitor and colleague Norris fifth, behind the Mercedes squad's Kimi Antonelli

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc claimed P6 and P7

It was the team's first pole in this venue since Lewis Hamilton set his famous lap in 2018 and was unexpected as Russell interrupted the McLaren duo's battle

The discussion before the weekend was about whether Max Verstappen could defeat the McLaren team and take a third consecutive win

And while Verstappen does start the race ahead of both McLarens, and with a good opportunity of bolstering his title credentials, it was George Russell who emerged victorious

He recorded the fastest lap on his initial attempt in final qualifying, despite touching the wall out of Turn 17, and then improved it by 0.007secs on his final attempt

Verstappen and Piastri both could not better on their final laps - and the Dutchman attributed that on Lando Norris going slowly in front of him in the final sector

The situation happened on the run to the last turn, where the McLaren driver was on the inside coming into the pit lane as Max attempted to finish his qualifying run

His engineer Gianpiero Lambiase said: "You can thank your mate for that," a nod to the close relationship between Verstappen and Norris

Verstappen, who looked angry about the incident in the aftermath of qualifying, stated: "If not for that I think it would have been close for pole"

George Russell remarked: "I had a difficult day yesterday for many reasons but it's great to come back and get a positive outcome today. I knew there was potential in the car"

Piastri said he simply did not have the pace to challenge and was over three-tenths off the top spot

More to follow