Nico Rosberg has claimed pole position for the Singapore GP after blitzing Mercedes team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton in qualifying.
Hamilton will start just third after a mistake - one of many on what has been an error-strewn weekend for the world champion - on his flying lap allowed Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo to claim a front-row starting berth alongside Rosberg.
The German's pole lap was the fastest ever recorded at Singapore and over half a second better than Hamilton's best. "That was one of my top three laps ever," said a jubilant Rosberg.
Were Rosberg to win Sunday's grand prix he would take the lead of the world championship having been 19 points behind Hamilton just a month ago when the season resumed after its summer break.
"It wasn't really a frustrating session, it just hasn't really been my weekend so far," said Hamilton. "Nico did a great job in releasing the full potential of the car."
Hamilton arrived in Q3 critically under-prepared after missing out on a large chunk of track time due to a mechanical failure in Practice Two before two errors in Practice Three meant he failed to complete a lap on the ultrasoft tyres.
He was made immediately out-paced by seven tenths by Rosberg's brilliant effort at the start of the pole position shoot-out and then ran wide on his second Q3 flyer to allow Ricciardo to grab second.
Conclusions from qualifying
"It was stunning lap, it really came from nowhere," said Red Bull Christian Horner. "We will try to take the fight to Mercedes."
Both Red Bulls reached the top ten shootout on supersoft tyres, meaning Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, who line up fourth next to Hamilton, will start on slower but more durable tyres than Mercedes.
Mercedes have consistently struggled off the line this year and Ricciardo quipped: "I will try to get into Nico's ear before the start and put some more pressure on him!"
No comments:
Post a Comment