Sebastian Vettel would stun the Red Bulls in Q3 to set a new lap record en route to an important and impressive pole at the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday.
Heading into qualifying it looked as if the Milton Keynes outfit would have the upper hand and in the first two parts of the session they did as Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo led, but in the top 10 shootout, Vettel turned up the engine and used the strengths of his Ferrari to set a 1:39.491s and secure his 49th career pole and fourth at Marina Bay.
Max Verstappen would have to settle for second, as he did two weeks ago in Monza, but this time he will retain that starting grid and look for his first win of the year on Sunday with teammate Daniel Ricciardo in third.
Kimi Raikkonen completed the second row in his Ferrari, crucially beating Vettel’s main title rival Lewis Hamilton who was fifth. Mercedes would lockout the third row with the Briton eight-tenths ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas in an unusual sight for the Anglo-German team, as they suffer for pace once again in Singapore.
Nico Hulkenberg snatched seventh and was ‘best of the rest’ in a fierce battle with the McLaren duo, who have been enjoying a good pace this weekend. Fernando Alonso had been threatening higher but would settle for eighth ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne with Carlos Sainz completing the top 10.
Once again, Jolyon Palmer just missed on a Q3 spot in 11th ahead of the disappointed Sergio Perez as the Mexican struggled on his last run before aborting his lap and settling for 12th. Daniil Kvyat finished 13th followed by Esteban Ocon, as Force India were one of the surprise disappointments.
Romain Grosjean was the man to emerge from the bottom three teams and claim the final spot in Q2 in 15th as the two Haas’ beat the Williams’ with Kevin Magnussen in 16th.
Williams’ traditional struggles around high downforce circuits continued as both cars hit the wall at different stages in Q1, with Felipe Massa picking up a puncture, before failing to progress once again.
Despite, his bash against the wall at Turn 21, Felipe Massa would return unscathed and would be eight-tenths clear of teammate Lance Stroll in 17th, with the Canadian in 18th in his first qualifying at this tricky track.
Sauber completed the grid once again with Pascal Wehrlein winning the in-team battle over his teammate Marcus Ericsson, the Swede already destined for that position after picking up a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox after his Practice 3 crash.
