Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Singapore

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Kimi Antonelli's fourth place was the first relatively bright moment for the Mercedes upgrade that was introduced in Malaysia but about which the team have question marks.

Although it shows in the data to have more downforce than the previous specification, which George Russell is running this weekend, it has proved difficult to access that.

In that context, for Antonelli to be only 0.189secs from pole could appear to be a promising step forward after being only seventh in sprint qualifying on Friday, even if the upgrade was still expected to deliver more performance than so far has been the case.

Russell, who crashed out of the sprint at the end of the first lap, said he had competed in qualifying "mainly just to make sure the car was feeling as it did yesterday after the crash but it didn't quite feel the same".

He added: "I had great pace yesterday. We were in the top three every lap I completed. And today I wasn't in the top five at any point throughout the session so we need to understand why that is."

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Vera, I think you may be our very first get involved to be called Vera, so claim that title!

Fernando Alonso just missed out on back-to-back Q2 appearances on Saturday in P17 and was set to line up P16 on today's grid with George Russell's penalty. The two-time world champion said the pace just wasn't there for Aston Martin in qualifying, so the team have taken the decision to replace his power-unit overnight following his feedback.

Aston Martin have also made suspension set-up changes to team-mate Lance Stroll's car under parc ferme, so the pair, along with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar, will be starting from the pit lane in Singapore.

The pit lane is open.

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Where will George Russell finish at the end of 62 laps of Marina Bay? The Mercedes driver is in recovery mode this weekend, dropping to the back of the field with a grid penalty for fitting a new power-unit, taking him beyond his permitted number for the season.

Russell's unexpected engine failure in Malaysia has piled more pressure on his shoulders, as he revealed on Thursday he will have to take another new engine, as soon as a planned upgrade is ready, to get him to the end of the campaign, leaving him staring down the barrel of a further grid penalty in the coming races.

His crash out of the sprint left Mercedes scrambling to get his car ready for qualifying, and after qualifying in sixth, he said the car didn’t feel the same. "I had great pace yesterday. We were in the top three every lap I completed," he said.

"And today I wasn't in the top five at any point throughout the session so we need to understand why that is."

Mercedes have made further changes to the car before today's grand prix, so Russell has received an additional 20-place grid penalty, which doesn't really mean anything, as he's starting P19 anyway.

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The early rain in Singapore meant the sprint event was delayed yesterday. But once we got going, Max Verstappen eventually triumphed despite losing the lead off the line to Mercedes' George Russell, who took himself out of the running with a crash at the final corner on the first lap.

The four-time world champion then claimed pole for today's 62-lap grand prix with his first flying lap in Q3, beating the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen was 0.054 seconds quicker than Leclerc, who said he made a few small mistakes on his last lap.

This is Verstappen's 50th career pole on what is his 250th F1 race weekend.

The achievement puts him in an elite group among fellow world champions Sebastian Vettel (57), Ayrton Senna (65), Michael Schumacher (68) and Lewis Hamilton (104).

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There is a vote running at the top of the page for you to pick your winner this afternoon, but if you want to go a bit more in-depth with your choice, send us a message using the get involved button.

Marina Bay might be in short supply of overtakes today, so if Max Verstappen can keep the two Ferraris at bay in the opening laps, will the Red Bull driver be your pick to take his first ever win in Singapore?

Kimi Antonelli said yesterday he's starting to see the potential in the upgraded Mercedes, (George Russell is running the previous specification of car this weekend), but will that be enough to lift him into the podium places?

Let us know your thoughts.

Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

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Hello, folks. Max Verstappen is the man in form in this first triple-header (there are another two coming up) to close out the season. The Dutchman sealed another pole position on Saturday to go with his Malaysia pole last weekend, and will share the front row in Singapore with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton looked rapid in qualifying, but he just fell short of securing his maiden pole for the Italian team and will instead start third.

Over at McLaren, team boss Andrea Stella had strong words for his two drivers after a collision late on in the sprint race. Stella said Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri making contact "is simply not acceptable", adding the interests of the team are far bigger than any of them.

For Mercedes, one driver is starting way down the order while the other is lining up on the second row in fourth place. George Russell's Singapore weekend can't get any worse (can it?) after he arrived with a back-of the-grid penalty and then crashed out from the lead of the sprint at the end of the first lap.

Russell's misfortune means Antonelli's title lead has increased already to 89 points.