Motor racing-Norris on pole with Verstappen alongside in Singapore
F1 title rivals on front row of the grid
Hamilton qualifies third, Russell fourth for Mercedes
Ferrari's Sainz crashes, Leclerc has lap deleted
Piastri only fifth for McLaren after Baku win
Disappointment for Perez and Ricciardo
Adds fresh Sainz, Leclerc and Ricciardo quotes
By Rae Wee
SINGAPORE, Sept 21 (Reuters) -Lando Norris put McLaren on pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix with Red Bull's Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen joining his closest title rival on the front row in a dramatic Saturday session.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified third for the night race with Mercedes team mate George Russell fourth and McLaren's Oscar Piastri fifth in a top-10shootout briefly halted by last year's winner Carlos Sainz crashing his Ferrari.
The pole was Norris's fifth of the season, sixth of his career and third in the last four races.
"The car’s been feeling good and when you have a good feeling car and you’re confident, you can go out and push and get the lap time," said Norris, who was fastest in practice on Friday and Saturday.
"So I did the job I had to do today and (am)excited to see what we can do tomorrow."
Verstappen leads Norris by 59 points with seven rounds remaining and the start will be crucial, with overtaking tricky on the Marina Bay circuit.
The final phase of qualifying was halted, with only Piastri and Haas's Nico Hulkenberg having set times, when Sainz slammed backwards into the barriers at the final corner as he prepared to start his flying lap.
"I just over-estimated the grip I would get on the cold tyres," said the Spaniard.
The crash meant Verstappen had his flying lap deleted under yellow flag rules and left seven drivers without a time on the board and only eight minutes remaining in which to set one.
The clock then ticked below four minutes before the two McLarens made the first move.
Norris went top with a lap of one minute 29.525 seconds, with Hamilton second before Verstappen went faster but still 0.203 off the McLaren's pace.
"I'm happy to be on the front row if you look at where we came from yesterday," said Verstappen who was only 15th in second practice and has yet to win in Singapore.
"I'll take second. I'm happy with that... in Singapore a lot of things can happen but at least we have a shot at it like this," added the triple champion.
He then staged an extraordinary protest in the FIA news conference against a punishment for swearing earlier in the week.
BAD DAY FOR FERRARI
Hulkenberg will start sixth on Sunday,with Fernando Alonso seventh for Aston Martin and Yuki Tsunoda eighth for RB.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had his lap deleted and dropped from seventh to ninth, with Sainz 10th -- a dismal outcome for the team McLaren had seen as their main rivals coming into the weekend.
"We do so much preparation all the weekend to get to this one lap in quali where we know it's as important as Monaco and we get out of the box (pits) and we are way too cold on the front tyres," said Leclerc.
"That puts all of our weekend into a very bad place," added the Monegasque. "We threw everything in the bin with the Q3 tyre temperature issue."
Verstappen's team mate Sergio Perez qualified 13th, the same position he had on the grid in Singapore last year before finishing eighth.
Williams drivers Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto will start 11th and 12th.
Daniel Ricciardo failed to make it beyond the first phase of what could prove to be the last qualifying session of his career.
The Australian, only 16th fastest, looks set to be replaced at RB by New Zealander Liam Lawson from the next round in Austin, Texas, as Red Bull assess their options for 2025.
"I try to be optimistic but today was a very pessimistic day, so I might go drown in my ice bath. You'll find me there tomorrow, floating," said Ricciardo with bleak humour.
Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Andrew Heavens, Hugh Lawson and Clare Fallon
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