Lando Norris leaves rivals breathless to take Singapore pole

Runaway Lando Norris boosted his world championship hopes by securing an impressive pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Under the thousand of bulbs that light up the Marina Bay circuit, Norris, posted a dazzling lap to beat rival Max Verstappen by 0.203 seconds.

Norris was presented with his pole position award by Irish band The Corrs, part of a high-profile musical line-up over the course of the weekend.

The Louth siblings take their place along with the likes of One Republic, Kylie Minogue and Lenny Kravitz with organisers offering more than 100 hours of musical entertainment to complement the action on the track.

Lewis Hamilton qualified third for Mercedes, one place ahead of team-mate George Russell, with Oscar Piastri fifth for McLaren.

Q3 was red-flagged with eight minutes and four seconds remaining after Carlos Sainz crashed out in his Ferrari.

The Spaniard, who won in the city state last season, was gearing up for his quick lap, but he lost control through the final corner and ended up in the wall.

At that stage only Verstappen, Piastri and Nico Hulkenberg had set a lap time, although the former's was deleted for failing to slow down under waved yellows following Sainz’s accident.

Unsurprisingly, Verstappen protested his innocence but the decision stood. A 16-minute suspension followed and the delay meant the leading contenders would be restricted to just one shot at glory.

But, in the pressure cauldron of fighting for the world crown, Norris kept his cool to land his fifth pole of the season and sixth in all.

When starting from the front of the pack, Norris has failed to end the opening lap in the lead. The McLaren man will be keen to rewrite history in his bid to land his third victory and reduce the championship