SINGAPORE: Red Bull's runaway Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen failed to make the top 10 in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday, with team mate Sergio Perez also falling short. The Dutch 25-year-old, record winner of the last 10 races in a row, was dumped out of the second phase along with Mexican Perez.

"That was ... shocking, absolutely shocking experience," Verstappen said over the team radio after qualifying 11th and being pushed out of the top 10 at the end of the phase by AlphaTauri stand-in Liam Lawson. Perez, 145 points behind Verstappen in the standings but still his closest title rival, qualified only 13th after a late spin.