BBC Sport has reported:

Max Verstappen will start Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix from pole after winning the sprint earlier on Saturday, giving him a chance to claim a second grand prix victory in a week. His improving form has made him a contender at the front as the Formula 1 season approaches its final races, although the points gap to championship leader Kimi Antonelli remains too large to make a title comeback realistic.

Verstappen’s pole came after a sprint victory in difficult wet conditions. He will start ahead of two Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, both of whom believed pole was within reach. Sunday’s race is scheduled for 11 October at 13:00 BST, with live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app.

The Dutchman, who will make his 250th Formula 1 race start on Sunday, said Red Bull had been competitive throughout the weekend. “It was a good qualifying,” Verstappen said. “It was always very close and we got ahead when it mattered and we are very happy with that.”

He said the car’s performance had helped him find a steady rhythm. “All weekend the car has been in a good window and that makes it a lot easier to find your rhythm. Incredibly happy to start first. Still a long race ahead, a lot of things can go wrong but we have done everything up until now well so hopefully we can continue that tomorrow.”

Verstappen added: “It's been a really positive last few races and we want to keep that momentum going.” A win in Singapore would follow his maiden victory of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last weekend, as the source describes it, and his sprint win earlier on Saturday.

There is a risk for Red Bull at the start. Verstappen lost the lead off the line in Malaysia last weekend and again in the sprint. Singapore is a circuit where overtaking is difficult, so a poor launch could make it harder to regain the lead than it was during his route to his first win of the season.

His recent improvement followed three consecutive podium finishes in Italy, Spain and Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan, problems in qualifying left him eighth on the grid, although he might have been on the front row and in contention for his first win of the season without them. Red Bull has gradually improved its car, giving Verstappen more confidence in how it will behave and allowing him to push closer to its limits. When the car is in that condition, the source notes, Verstappen can be difficult to beat.

His performance recalls his second half of last season, when he reduced a 100-point deficit to the championship lead and nearly secured a fifth title. He ultimately missed that title by two points after a run that put McLaren and Lando Norris under pressure. This season, however, Verstappen is 129 points behind Antonelli, with only 175 points still available.

A reversal would require a sustained sequence of wins for Verstappen and an unlikely stretch of poor results and misfortune for Antonelli. The remaining races are Qatar and Abu Dhabi, whose staging is uncertain in the context of the war in the Middle East. The title prospect is therefore remote, but Verstappen’s pace suggests he could remain a front-running threat through the rest of the season.

McLaren has more immediate concerns. Oscar Piastri and Norris were running fourth and fifth in Saturday’s sprint when Norris attempted to pass his teammate on the inside at Turn Five on the final lap. The move ended with both cars spinning together: Piastri hit the barriers and retired, while Norris dropped to eighth. The team’s nine-point prospect became one point.

Turn Five is not a frequent passing spot. From McLaren’s perspective, Norris’s move carried risk without a likely points benefit. Had he passed Piastri earlier, he might have had a chance to challenge Leclerc, who was struggling ahead of them, for third. On the final lap, the next remaining overtaking opportunity was at the end of the following straight, at Turn Seven. A change of position between the McLaren drivers would not have increased the team’s total points, while a collision could cost it heavily.

The stewards took no further action, concluding that “both drivers had contributed to the incident”. At the hearing, Piastri said he had not expected Norris to make a move at that corner and had tried to leave space when he saw the attempt. Norris said the rules entitled him to attempt an overtake because of his position on track. He said he braked and went over the kerb after realizing he would not get as much room as he expected.

Norris accepted that he had initiated the attack, while maintaining that he was entitled to try it. “There are two sides, one is what the stewards say and that's a fair reasoning, no-one's to blame. But I did apologise because it was still me attacking, as I had the right to do. If I just sat there and was boring like I should be, nothing would have happened. So really it's still my fault but I deserved to go for the space and I still believe I had the right for it.”

He said both drivers were unhappy with the result and that they had discussed the incident. “As you probably expect, no-one's very happy. I'm not happy, Oscar isn't happy. None of us wanted it to go that way. There was things both of us could have done better and, yeah, we spoke about it and we moved on.”

Team principal Andrea Stella, known for measured comments, said the collision was unacceptable under the team’s approach to racing. “It was a very long, tiring and challenging day,” he said. “Very simply, it is unacceptable that two McLarens ever come together on track. This is a fundamental principle of how we go racing, and something both drivers are very well aware of.”

Stella said McLaren would review the incident internally and remind its drivers to put the team’s interests first. “As always, we discuss these incidents as a team in a constructive and productive way as there is always something to learn and take forward to emerge stronger. These are not conversations we need to have in public, but we have reminded our drivers that the interests of the team must always come first, and that did not happen today.”

The collision came after two seasons in which Norris and Piastri had several incidents that caused tension, particularly during their title fight last season. Stella said the team had previously discussed how they should race together and protect the team’s interests, and that he was disappointed to be facing the issue again. “We as a team need to reflect as to how we make sure that these situations do not happen any more,” he said. “It is serious. It is serious because the damage for the team is material. We are in a close fight in the championship.”

McLaren had been aiming to challenge Ferrari for second in the constructors’ championship and finish ahead of Red Bull. Before the Singapore Grand Prix, it was third, just 11 points ahead of Red Bull. Stella said the incident made both objectives harder. “We had the ambition to challenge Ferrari and this is a problem in the challenge for the second position, and we have an ambition to finish ahead of Red Bull, and this is a problem to finish ahead of Red Bull.”

McLaren had enjoyed a strong summer, with Norris winning consecutive races in Hungary and the Netherlands. He might also have won in Madrid, but for the timing of a virtual safety car. The team’s competitiveness has since declined. Stella said McLaren would address the latest setback constructively, with the aim of improving how the team and drivers race together.

“And it is also serious because we come from a few seasons in which we have reflected together, team and drivers, as to how we approach racing together and how we make sure that the interest of the team is protected,” Stella said. “It is serious, but at the same time we approach it with a very constructive mindset because there is only one outcome, that the team will be more united and the team will be stronger in the way we pursue our quest, which is the drivers' and the team's quest, together.”