Sebastian Vettel is edging one step closer in taking this season’s world championship following qualifying in Singapore.
The championship leader only did one flying lap to take his eleventh pole position while team-mate Mark Webber knocked off McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton to take second, earning Red Bull Racing a front-row lockout in Marina Bay and maintaining the team’s perfect qualifying form this year.
The McLarens will start the Singapore Grand Prix on the second row with Jenson Button ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The latter suffered a right-rear puncture in Q2 and had to preserve his option tyres for the race so elated not to do a second run in Q3.
As for the Ferraris, Fernando Alonso is fifth with team-mate Felipe Massa taking sixth, a full second behind the two-time Singapore Grand Prix winner.
The team formation continues with Nico Rosberg ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher followed by the Force Indias. The Mercedes-powered cars will line up on row four and five respectively, although Schumacher, Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta decided not to set a lap time in Q3.
Renault’s prediction of a very tough Singapore Grand Prix weekend came true as its drivers ended up fighting to escape from Q1. Bruno Senna was in the drop-zone before a mighty last lap got him up to P15, but in the process knocked his team-mate Vitaly Petrov down to an eliminated P18, the Russian’s lap time nearly a second slower than Senna’s.
The Force Indias’ last Q2 laps denied Sergio Perez a Q3 place and left him P11. His Sauber team-mate Kamui Kobayashi caused a Q2 red flag when the aggressive approach he had taken to the Turn 10 chicane all weekend became rather too wild and he launched his car into the barrier.
The Williams will start P12 and P13, while the Toro Rossos qualified either side of Senna in P14 and P16.
Heikki Kovalainen’s initial Q3 run saw his Lotus ahead of Petrov and within a tenth of Sebastien Buemi, though the Finn was cut adrift when he failed to improve on his last lap.
It was a similar story for HRT, which had both cars ahead of the Virgins going into the final Q1 runs, but ended up on the back row again as Timo Glock and Jerome D’Ambrosio improved.
Tonio Liuzzi’s five-place grid penalty for causing the Monza start mayhem will have no effect whatsoever as the Italian qualified slowest of all, 0.4 seconds behind his Singapore debutant team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Qualifying times from Singapore:
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m44.381s
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m44.732s
3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m44.804s
4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m44.809s
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m44.874s
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m45.800s
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m46.013s
8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes no time
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes no time
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes no time
11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.616s
12. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m48.082s
13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m48.270s
14. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m48.634s
15. Bruno Senna Renault 1m48.662s
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.862s
17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari No time
18. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m49.835s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m50.948s
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m51.012s
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m52.154s
22. Jerome D’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m52.363s
23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m52.404s
24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m52.810s*
107 per cent time: 1m53.844s
*Five-place grid penalty for causing a crash on lap 1 at Monza
Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel was pretty satisfied with his qualifying performance in Singapore but the championship leader added that he could have gone even faster. Autosport.com has the story.
Sebastian Vettel hailed what he labelled as a perfect qualifying session after securing pole for the Singapore Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver grabbed his 11th pole of the year to edge closer to his second title, beating Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber to the top spot by over three tenths of a second.
Vettel, who could become the youngest ever double champion on Sunday, said after qualifying that he could have been quicker.
“In the last run I tried maybe a little bit too much at the chicane at Turn 10,” said Vettel. “I decided to abort and go easy to not damage the car. I was happy with my first lap circuit and in the end it was possible to go faster.
“But all in all a perfect session. It’s a big challenge, so many corners and a long lap to get everything together. We learned from the mistakes we did in qualifying last year and kept our heads cool. It’s great today to have both cars in front row, so let’s see tomorrow.”
Today’s pole means Vettel is just three away from equalling Nigel Mansell’s record number of poles during a season.
The world champion said, however, that he is not thinking of that, but rather about doing the best possible job in the race tomorrow.
“I think it was pretty exceptional,” he said of Mansell’s record. “It was 1992, Nigel had an incredible year. We are not doing too bad this year, but it’d be wrong to start thinking about those things. We have a long race ahead of us tomorrow, that’s where we score points and not in qualifying.
“It shows that every single race is another step for us. We try to focus on the moment which is the most important to get all out. We have to keep doing what we are doing, and it’s not easy to do it every weekend.
“Tomorrow is the race and that is where the focus is. I still believe Nigel’s record is exceptional.”
McLaren’s Jenson Button was surprised to qualify in third position following Friday’s practice problems. Autosport.com has the details.
Jenson Button admitted he did not expect to be able to qualify so high up on the grid for the Singapore Grand Prix after a difficult Friday.
The McLaren driver lost a lot of valuable track time in the opening day’s practice following a problem with his gearbox which meant he was unable to complete long runs.
That means Button will start tomorrow’s race without knowing how well the tyres will behave in the race.
The Briton was nonetheless pleased with his performance in qualifying and conceded he did not expect to be so strong.
“I think last night I didn’t expect to be here,” said Button. “We made a lot of changes overnight and we got quite a lot of improvements. The pace was good all day.
“We found it a little bit difficult in qualifying to get the tyres working for a whole lap: if had them working in first sector they had gone off in third. We had to do a reasonably slow out lap, but maybe I got too excited and pushed too hard in the first sector as the tyres were off in final sector.
“I’m happy to be third, on the clean side of the track. The worry is tomorrow as haven’t driven with heavy fuel.”
He added: “I didn’t get much running yesterday, so I am pleased to be in top three and it is a good position for the race tomorrow.”
Button’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton will start from fourth position.
As for Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren driver remains upbeat for the Singapore Grand Prix despite issues in qualifying. Autosport.com has the story.
Lewis Hamilton said he was not too frustrated by the fuelling problem that ended his Singapore Grand Prix qualifying early, as he is confident that his McLaren’s race pace will allow him to quickly move up from fourth.
The Briton was only able to get one early run in during Q3 as the team was unable to get sufficient fuel into the car for a second attempt. He had been a provisional second on the grid, but was pushed back to fourth as Mark Webber (Red Bull) and his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button improved.
“We came in, tried to refuel the car and had a fuelling problem so they couldn’t do it,” said Hamilton.
“We were running out of time bit by bit, and they just couldn’t get enough fuel in the car, so we were too late to go again and unfortunately weren’t able to get the second run.
“But these things happen and the team did the best job they could. We’re not in a bad position.
“I think we probably could’ve been on the front row, I think we had a little bit more time in the bag, so that’s positive for tomorrow.”
He added: “The pace is good, I feel good. From fourth we can only go forwards.”
Hamilton had made it through to Q3 despite a scare in Q2 when he picked up a puncture while only just inside the cut-off point in eighth.
“I think I went over a kerb and they said it lost pressure immediately,” he explained.
“There are lots of bolts hanging out of the kerbs, that’s what they’ve been having problems with all weekend, so maybe that’s it.”
He also escaped a near-miss with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari at the start of Q3 as both jostled to find clear track.
“The guys always try to back you up and I was ready to get going,” Hamilton said.
“I was trying to get past, and he was blocking and blocking and blocking. Eventually I got past.
“My lap was pretty good but I got held up behind Fernando [Alonso] – I was about a second behind Fernando at the end, so I lost a little bit in my second sector.”
Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher elated not to run in Q3 and said it was the right decision to avoid any risks. Autosport.com has the details.
Michael Schumacher is hopeful that having not run in the final qualifying segment will pay off in the Singapore Grand Prix tomorrow.
The German Mercedes driver decided to save super soft tyres for the race and did not go out during Q3, finishing eighth on the grid as the Force Indias did not run either.
Schumacher said the decision not to run was a “risk worth taking”.
“It was quite a tactical qualifying session, in which we chose not to run in Q3 to save new tyres for the race,” said Schumacher.
“In theory, this should be worth some time over the race distance, so it was a calculated risk worth taking.
“As we all know from the past, a lot of incidents can happen during the Singapore Grand Prix, so I will certainly go for any opportunity which might occur. I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for Sebastian to clinch his second world title here tomorrow.”
Team-mate Nico Rosberg qualified in seventh position and, unlike Schumacher, he decided to use all his tyres in order to try and beat Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
In the end Rosberg failed to do so, but believes it was the right decision to try.
“I had a good fast lap in Q3 and we were able to take the most out of the car today so I’m quite satisfied,” he said. “Starting in seventh place was the maximum that we could have achieved, although Massa was very close so it was definitely worth trying to catch him.
“Being on the clean side at the grid gives me a good position for the start, so I will try to make up positions there and score some good points. I think it will be an exciting race here with all the new things like DRS and the Pirelli tyres.”
Kamui Kobayashi is aiming to reward his Sauber team in the Singapore Grand Prix after apologising for crashing during qualifying on Saturday.
The Japanese driver crashed against the wall at Turn 10 after jumping over the chicane during his first run in the second qualifying segment.
The crash caused a red flag and meant Kobayashi qualified in 17th position after failing to set a time.
Kobayashi was sorry for the accident, and is now hoping to pay his team back in the race.
I ended up in the wall in Q2 and the accident was my fault,” said Kobayashi. “I feel very sorry for the team. I took too much kerb in turn 10, the car jumped too high and this was the outcome.
“I saw a chance to fight for Q3, but it didn’t work out. I was taken to the medical centre and was quite surprised at how carefully they checked me. However, physically I’m absolutely fine. I will do my utmost tomorrow to fight for points and give something back to the team.”
Rookie team-mate Sergio Perez had a strong day, qualifying in 11th position after just missing the cut to go into Q3.
“Overall I am pleased with our qualifying performance today, although it is a shame not to have made it into Q3, as it was very close,” he said. “My lap in Q2 wasn’t really perfect, the one in Q1 was actually better, as I felt more traction then.
“Nevertheless I’m very confident for tomorrow, as we normally have a strong race pace. The circuit is very technical and a driver can easily make a mistake, or with a good performance make a difference. I strongly believe I will finish in the points tomorrow.”
Source: Autosport.com
Renault’s Vitaly Petrov blames a minor error in qualifying that meant he was knocked out in Q1. Autosport.com has the story.
Vitaly Petrov said it was only a small mistake that left him 18th on the Singapore Grand Prix grid, and now hopes Renault can rescue his race hopes with an innovative strategy.
The Russian was knocked out in Q1 after his team-mate Bruno Senna made a big gain on his final lap – Petrov having made an error on his best effort.
“To be honest, it was not 100 per cent a mistake,” said Petrov.
“It looks like a mistake because I didn’t do something magic – I didn’t brake late or try to take more speed into the corner or anything like this, I just lost the rear at Turn 13, and there are a lot of bumps there.
“Even on the data, I didn’t try to attack too much. I was maybe a little bit harder than normal then tried to keep speed a little bit late, and suddenly I just lost the rear.
“Then of course when the rear slides, the tyre temperatures come up, and in the last sector I lost one second compared to Bruno.
“For this track and with these tyres, when you have a little slide, tyre pressures come up, and then you cannot do anything.”
Although Renault had always anticipated a tough Singapore GP given its issues at other high-downforce tracks – and the disappointment of having to remove a bodywork upgrade due to overheating issues on Friday – Petrov admitted that 18th was worse than he feared.
But he was confident the poor result was a blip and that the Japanese GP would bring more encouragement.
“Even before [the weekend] I said I knew it would be quite tough for us, very, very tough, but I believed we could still do something, but it looks like what Bruno did today was the maximum,” said Petrov.
“At Suzuka I think we can easily come back into the top 10 again, that is my feeling.”
He is optimistic that having extra sets of tyres left over will allow him to gain ground with an alternative strategy in the race.
“Of course, from my position I have two sets of new tyres,” he said.
“We will try to do something different to everyone around us, but I do not know what I can do.
“The team need to do a good strategy to try to jump people all the time. I think with these tyres we have left, we can do something.”
Felipe Massa hit out at Lewis Hamilton after the pair nearly collided ahead of their final qualifying runs at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Hamilton was trying to get ahead of Massa to get a clear lap in Q3, and he tried to dive inside the Ferrari at Turn 19 – but the pair nearly came together.
Massa finally let Hamilton through as he backed off to get himself in clear air behind Fernando Alonso who was ahead of him on the track – but he was distinctly unimpressed with his rival’s driving.
When asked by AUTOSPORT to talk through what happened with Hamilton, Massa said: “Maybe you need to ask him. To be honest I don’t understand what he wanted to do.
“Three cars were going slow to prepare the lap and he was trying to…I don’t know. Ask him. To be in a condition to touch someone on the out lap? And do another mistake? I think he didn’t use his mind again.”
Massa reckons the incident had ruined his own preparation for the qualifying lap.
“Yes, a little bit, but anyway I am sure he didn’t prepare his lap as well, so to be honest I don’t understand it,” he said. “You just need to ask him because maybe he thinks differently to what is the right direction.”
Although Ferrari’s qualifying pace was less than the team had expected after an encouraging opening day of practice, Massa still felt that there were opportunities for a good result in the race thanks to the likelihood of high degradation.
“We need to wait and see,” he said. “For sure the degradation is high for everybody, so I hope we have good degradation tomorrow. We will see in the first stint, but now it is difficult to say. I hope we have a good degradation and, if that is the case, then I hope the race can be better.”
“We expect to have a consistent car and I hope we have. It is not so bad the long runs we did, but I saw also the long run from Sebastian. He was very strong, very consistent, so we wait and see tomorrow how it is going to be, and then we can be a little bit more sure.”
Source: Autosport.com
Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta decided not to set any times during Q3 in order to save a set of tyres for the Singapore Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the story.
The Force India drivers say they had no qualms about not running in Q3 in Singapore in order to save tyres for the race.
Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta made it to the pole shoot-out but did not leave the pits, so will start ninth and 10th.
Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery felt there was no need for such tactics in Singapore.
“It is disappointing,” he told AUTOSPORT. “We have tried to come up with some ideas to resolve that, and it is a great shame for the fans that that is happening, there is no real reason for it to be honest, and I don’t see how it will affect race strategy as there are plenty of tyres available, so it is disappointing for the fans that they don’t get to see cars running.”
But Sutil defended the decision, saying eschewing a Q3 run gave the team a much better chance of a strong race.
“I’m not going to say what I’ll do tomorrow. That’s my secret, but I hope I have the right strategy, of course,” he said.
“It’s going to be hard for the tyres but also with more rubber on the circuit it should be better.
“I can still choose my tyre set for tomorrow, so that’s another good point for not going out. I still have the choice and I can sit down with my engineers and talk about the best strategy for us.
“Saving tyres is very important and there was no need for us to run. It was our decision and I’m happy with our decision. I think it was clear.”
The Force Indias will start behind the Mercedes, and Sutil was open-minded about their chances of attacking Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher in the race.
“Maybe it’s possible. It’s going to be difficult,” he said. “Our qualifying pace is quite a bit slower [compared] to them but in the race sometimes we are a bit faster and less aggressive on the tyres. So let’s see. Anything can happen tomorrow.”
Di Resta agreed that Mercedes could be tough to overcome.
“I’m hoping they’re going to have a lot of degradation, like sometimes they can have,” he said.
“Their performance was quite strong in terms of lap time, they seem about a second quicker. How much that will close up on high fuel, time will tell, but we’ll give it our best shot.
“Equally, Sauber behind us look strong, because that was fairly close.”
The Scot missed much of practice with hydraulic and brake issues on Friday, and admitted there would be a lot of unknown quantities for him going into the race.
“You can analyse it as much as you want, but in my circumstance we’re going into a dark hole really because we haven’t done any high-fuel runs,” he said. “We haven’t got any tyre wear data on my car, we can only reference the other chassis.”