Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took pole position after a gripping qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix as Max Verstappen finished only eighth.
Red Bull’s Verstappen appeared to have the pace to take pole but abandoned his penultimate lap after an error and then was told urgently to pit before finishing his final one.
He swore over the radio, saying: “I don’t get it. What are you saying?”
It was later confirmed Verstappen was short of fuel.
Leclerc beat Verstappen’s team-mate, Sergio Perez, by 0.022 seconds, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton third.
Team boss Christian Horner said over the radio they would talk about it afterward, his point being no one would then be listening.
It was an unusual session in which the drivers ran throughout without pitting. Teams have to have enough fuel remaining in their cars to provide a specific size of the sample to the FIA after qualifying.
And Verstappen confirmed it, saying the team had told him to abort an earlier lap that would have been good enough at the time for pole after he made a mistake at the penultimate chicane, and did not realize he would not have enough fuel to do another lap until it was too late.
“Not enough fuel in the car,” he said. “We got a little surprised we had that extra lap but you can track that, you see that coming. That’s why I don’t really understand how that was missed.
“In hindsight, I should have finished the lap before when they told me to abort to make a gap for the last lap.
“All this was triggered by Pierre [Gasly] in front of me, which is why I had to create a gap for that final lap because I was getting close to him.
“But that’s not an excuse. I cannot see how much fuel is in the car and we have all the sensors in the world to track these things. So, yeah, incredibly frustrating.”
Verstappen has appeared able to win from anywhere in recent races – doing so from 10th in Hungary, 15th in Belgium, and seventh in Italy – but he said: “It’s a bit like Monaco – you cannot really pass.
“I don’t really see a podium or a win.”
Verstappen’s misfortune means it is even less likely than it already was that he could clinch a second world title on Sunday – he needs to win the race and hope other results go his way.
