Max Verstappen tells Lando Norris he will remember block in Singapore qualifying

Max Verstappen told Lando Norris his “block” in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix has been “noted and will be remembered” as the world champion accused his British rival of costing him pole position.

George Russell starts Sunday’s 62-lap race in the searing heat and humidity of the city state from first place after he danced his way to top spot – his second pole of the season and seventh of his career.

Verstappen will join Russell on the front row, with Oscar Piastri third and Norris fifth. Russell’s Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli splits the McLaren drivers in fourth. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc qualified sixth and seventh.

Verstappen has never won at this slow-speed venue which has rarely suited his Red Bull machinery. And McLaren – so dominant this season that they are set to secure the constructors’ championship on Sunday with six rounds remaining – might have been expected to lead the way.

But Piastri and Norris were never in contention and Verstappen – with his consecutive victories taking him to within 69 points of the championship summit – now has the opportunity to further reduce Piastri’s title lead.

However, Verstappen took aim at Norris for driving too slowly on his in-lap. Verstappen was in the dirty air of the McLaren, lost time and aborted his lap.

“You can thank your mate for that,” said Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase in a dig at Norris. Verstappen’s X-rated response was bleeped out. He then gave Norris a sarcastic thumbs-up as he drove past.

Moments after stepping out of his Red Bull, Verstappen said: “That is what happens when there is a car in front of you just cruising two seconds in front. That is noted and it will be remembered as well. It is a shame because it could have been close for pole.”

Informed of Verstappen’s complaint, Norris said: “They always complain. They complain about everything. That’s Red Bull. I don’t even know (what he did). I was three seconds ahead. I can’t work it out.”

Their disagreement comes a day after Norris said Verstappen is almost impossible to beat because he was born into Formula One, pointing towards the Dutch driver’s family tree. Verstappen’s father Jos competed in 106 races and was a team-mate of Michael Schumacher. His mother, Sophie Kumpen, enjoyed a successful karting career.

In the main press conference, Verstappen said he will not talk to Norris about the flashpoint.

“It is quite clear that it was not nice,” he continued. “In general as drivers we are quite good at that, we try to stay out of the way. Yes, it can be complicated in different scenarios but in this case with only 10 cars on the track it could have been avoided.”

Despite Verstappen’s fury, he is in a strong position to further eat into Piastri’s title lead.

Pole man Russell was battling a virus at the previous round in Azerbaijan and admitted earlier this week that he was still not operating at 100 per cent. On Friday, he crashed out of practice.

However, in qualifying he was untouchable. Ten of the last 15 pole-sitters have gone on to win at a track where overtaking is far from easy.

Russell brushed the wall at the penultimate corner as he saw off Verstappen’s challenge by 0.182 seconds. And when asked if it was a “kiss or a hit” with the barriers, Russell replied: “It was a bit more of a snog!

“I didn’t have much confidence and the crash in practice set me back again, but I reminded myself that it doesn’t matter what happens on Friday, it is Q3 when it counts.”

Williams pair Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were later disqualified from 12th and 13th for rear-wing infringements. They are set to start Sunday’s race from the pit-lane.