McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth pole position of the season in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying yesterday to strengthen his bid for a second world title.
The Briton settled a thrilling session with a lightning lap early in Q3 which proved uncatchable by the other drivers. The 2008 champion was nearly half-a-second quicker than Pastor Maldonado, of Williams.
Red Bull’s defending world champion Sebastian Vettel will be on the second row of the grid for today’s race alongside Jenson Button, Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate.
Championship leader Fernando Alonso settled for fifth, Force India’s Paul di Resta was sixth, Mark Webber was seventh and Romain Grosjean, of Lotus, back from a one-race ban over a crash in Belgium, survived some hairy moments to claim eighth.
Mercedes’s Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg opted to preserve their tyres for the race and spent most of Q3 in the garage, settling for ninth and 10th places respectively.
Hamilton trails Alonso by 37 points heading into the last seven races, but yesterday’s performance underlines form that has won him two of the last three grands prix despite intense speculation over his future.
“It’s an incredibly tough circuit for tyre degradation,” said the Briton, who has been linked with a move to Mercedes.
“I think everyone’s going to struggle with that. We just want to get away well and adopt the strategy we’ve planned.”
Grosjean was quickest in Q1 ahead of di Resta, former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel and Hamilton, who seemed untroubled by a bumpy run over the chicane curbs.
Bruno Senna also escaped serious damage when he clipped a barrier after running wide to overtake a slower car.
But the Williams driver lasted just a few minutes of Q2 before a similar mistake loosened a rear wheel and put him out.
Marussia’s French driver Charles Pic was handed a 20-second penalty for overtaking under a red flag during yesterday’s free practice.
Today’s grid...
1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 1:46.362
2. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) - 1:46.804
3. Sebastian Vettel (RedBull) - 1:46.905
4. Jenson Button (McLaren) - 1:46.939
5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) - 1:47.216
6. Paul di Resta (Force India) - 1:47.241
7. Mark Webber (RedBull) - 1:47.475
8. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) - 1:47.788
9. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) - no time
10. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - no time
11. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) - 1:47.975
12. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) - 1:48.261
13. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) - 1:48.344
14. Sergio Perez (Sauber) - 1:48.505
15. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) - 1:48.774
16. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) - 1:48.849
17. Bruno Senna (Williams) - no time
18. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) - 1:49.933
19. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) - 1:50.846
20. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) - 1:51.137
21. Timo Glock (Marussia) - 1:51.370
22. Charles Pic (Marussia) - 1:51.762
23. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) - 1:52.372
24. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT) - 1:53.355
Overall standings
Drivers
1. Alonso (ESP) 179 points, 2. Hamilton (GBR) 142, 3. Raikkonen (FIN) 141, 4. Vettel (GER) 140, 5. Webber (AUS) 132, 6. Button (GBR) 101, 7. Rosberg (GER) 83, 8. Grosjean (FRA) 76, 9. Perez (MEX) 65, 10. Massa (BRA) 47, 11. Schumacher (GER) 43, 12. Kobayashi (JPN) 35, 13. Di Resta (GBR) 32, 14. Hulkenberg (GER) 31, 15. Maldonado (VEN) 29, 16. Senna (BRA) 25, 17. Vergne (FRA) 8, 18. Ricciardo (AUS) 4.
Constructors
1. Red Bull 272 points, 2. McLaren 243, 3. Ferrari 226, 4. Lotus 217, 5. Mercedes 126, 6. Sauber 100, 7. Force India 63, 8. Williams 54, 9. Toro Rosso 12.
Next race: Japan GP – October 7.