Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the pole for Formula One's 2022 Singapore GP - a Grand Prix that was not run in the past two years due to COVID restrictions.
According to Ferrari, the qualifying session was one of the most complicated of the season as the the Marina Bay Street Circuit never really dried out because of the high humidity levels, after heavy rain had fallen since the third free practice session.
"With track conditions changing throughout, it was a tricky but exciting qualifying," said Leclerc. "We were very quick on the Intermediates in Q1 and Q2, then had to start again from zero on the slicks in Q3."
Pirelli chose the softest three tyres in the Formula 1 range for the fifth time this year.
"There were some damp spots of tarmac here and there and you really had to adapt to the track evolution," added Leclerc.
Leclerc now has nine pole positions in 2022 and 18 overall for the Monegasque driver's F1 career.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton followed closely behind Leclerc with Perez just 0.022 seconds behind Leclerc and Hamilton just 0.054 seconds behind the pole winner.
"I was pushing so hard and it was incredibly close," said Hamilton. "It was really difficult to get to a position where we could be fighting for first place and I just didn't have enough grip on the last lap."
Points leader and 2021 World Champion Max Verstappen qualified 8th after bringing his RB18 into the pits on his final qualifying lap as the Red Bull team was concerned about the amount of fuel they had used in the qualifying session.
F1 teams are required to provide a one-litre fuel sample to the FIA for inspection after qualifying.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Alpine's Fernando Alonzo rounded out the top five, respectively.
"It was a challenging qualifying today, one of the toughest of the season due to the conditions and the amount of traffic at a street circuit like this," said Sainz. "I think we did a decent session overall, but it's frustrating to see that a tenth and a half cost us four positions, especially after reviewing my fastest lap, which was looking very good for pole until a snap at turn 16."
AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly and teammate Yuki Tsunoda qualified seventh and 10th, respectively.
Kevin Magnussen put on an impressive ninth place qualifying effort for Haas Racing. Magnussen's second year teammate, Mick Schumacher, put on an equally impressive performance, qualifying P13.
"It's been looking positive all weekend but not this positive. P9 was a bit more than we were expecting but it's great because qualifying in Singapore is very important," said Magnussen.
"It's a very happy day today. The team performed their best under very difficult circumstances with the wet track, and every decision was almost perfect," said an elated Guenther Steiner, Haas Team Principal.
Leclerc led a wet FP3 session on the Singapore's Marina Bay Street Circuit earlier in the day.
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QUALIFYING RESULTS
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Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1 Leclerc Ferrari 1:49.412 103.517 mph
2 Perez Red Bull 1:49.434 0.022
3 Hamilton Mercedes 1:49.466 0.054
4 Sainz Ferrari 1:49.583 0.171
5 Alonso Alpine 1:49.966 0.554
6 Norris McLaren 1:50.584 1.172
7 Gasly AlphaTauri 1:51.211 1.799
8 Verstappen Red Bull 1:51.395 1.983
9 Magnussen Haas 1:51.573 2.161
10 Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:51.983 2.571
11 Russell Mercedes 1:54.012
12 Stroll Aston Martin 1:54.211
13 Schumacher Haas 1:54.370
14 Vettel Aston Martin 1:54.380
15 Zhou Alfa Romeo 1:55.518
16 Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:56.083
17 Ricciardo McLaren 1:56.226
18 Ocon Alpine 1:56.337
19 Albon Williams 1:56.985
20 Latifi Williams 1:57.532
(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media)