Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel achieved his 46th career pole position in Formula 1 with a superb performance in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion was the only driver to lap the Marina Bay street circuit in less than one minute, 44 seconds in qualifying, and he ends an unbroken run of 23 consecutive races of P1 slot for Mercedes.
The championship-winning team has struggled to be competitive so far in Singapore, and the best Lewis Hamilton could manage was the fifth quickest time, a massive 1.415 seconds adrift of Vettel.
Hamilton would later say it was down to the tyres. Not surprising following the controversy post-race at the Italian Grand Prix…
Vettel set the pace throughout Q2 and Q3, and found 0.4 seconds between his first and second runs in the top ten shootout to secure Scuderia Ferrari’s first pole position since the 2012 German Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo was second quickest for Red Bull, 0.543 seconds further back, while Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was third, just ahead of the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat.
Nico Rosberg rounded out the top six, 0.115 seconds slower than his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton.
The Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen made just a single run in Q3, but he managed to split the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas in seventh and Felipe Massa in ninth.
The teenager was only 0.122 seconds slower than Bottas, but 0.279 seconds quicker than Massa.
Romain Grosjean’s Lotus completed the top ten, nearly four tenths adrift of Massa’s Williams.
Others with hope of making the pole position shootout were scuppered by Carlos Sainz Jr striking the wall heavily at Turn 19 in his Toro Rosso, which brought out yellow flags and spoiled the end of Q2.
However, Force India reckoned Q3 was just beyond its drivers regardless.
Nico Hulkenberg improved a bit on his first run, but his one minute, 46.305 seconds lap was only good enough for P11, while team-mate Sergio Perez was bumped to P13 by the McLaren of Fernando Alonso.
Sainz wound up a lowly P14 on account of his error, yet 0.125 seconds faster than Jenson Button, who felt he had too much understeer.
A last-gasp effort from Button earlier in Q1 meant both Sauber drivers failed to progress past the first stage of qualifying.
Felipe Nasr looked set to make it through in the heavily revised C34, but he ended up 0.054 seconds shy of the cut-off.
The Sauber driver will start P16, 0.083 seconds quicker than team-mate Marcus Ericsson.
The Lotus of Pastor Maldonado was 0.225 seconds adrift in P17, but well ahead of the Manor Marussias.
Alexander Rossi, making his Formula 1 debut this Singapore Grand Prix weekend, led team-mate Will Stevens after the first runs in Q1, but the American ended up half a second adrift, thanks to a substantial improvement from Stevens at the end.
So a refreshing grid order for the race. With Ferrari and Red Bull in the mix. A non-Mercedes front row for quite some time but the speed of the Silver Arrows can never be discounted. Can Vettel win his third race this season or will we see Ricciardo scoring a top result? We shall find out on race day in Marina Bay.
Singapore Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m43.885s
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m44.428s
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m44.667s
4 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1m44.745s
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m45.300s
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m45.415s
7 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m45.676s
8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1m45.798s
9 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m46.077s
10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 1m46.413s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m46.305s
12 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1m46.328s
13 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m46.385s
14 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Renault 1m46.894s
15 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1m47.019s
16 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1m46.965s
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.088s
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1m47.323s
19 Will Stevens Marussia-Ferrari 1m51.021s
20 Alexander Rossi Marussia-Ferrari 1m51.523s
After earning pole position at Marina Bay, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel admitted that rival Mercedes was sandbagging following their practice form. In the end, both Ferrari and Red Bull were able to go faster than the Silver Arrows. Autosport.com has the details.
Singapore Grand Prix polesitter Sebastian Vettel thought Mercedes was sandbagging during the Formula 1 free practice sessions earlier in the weekend.
Mercedes was outpaced by Ferrari and Red Bull in second practice on Friday and again on Saturday morning, and the world champion team was adamant it was showing its true pace.
That proved to be the case when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg could only qualify on the third row of the grid, and it came as a surprise to front row starters Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.
“It’s a surprise – I thought they were sandbagging yesterday, also this morning,” said Vettel of Mercedes.
“There is no doubt they have the strongest package this year – they must have some issues, that’s the only explanation.
“But I wouldn’t rule them out tomorrow. I’m sure Mercedes will be quick.
“It’s not the easiest circuit to overtake on but if you have the pace eventually you come through. I expect them to be strong.”
Ricciardo added: “Qualifying was exciting, to have no Mercedes up here is a surprise to everyone.
“I thought they were playing a few card games yesterday but it seems they are not particularly comfortable here this weekend.
“It’s a bit of a surprise – and it’s good to capitalise on that.”
Vettel believes a front-row lockout was possible for Ferrari, but his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had to settle for third on the grid.
“We are trying as hard as possible, but in the end I was a bit lucky as I felt really comfortable, and Kimi wasn’t,” he said.
“It’s crucial you feel confidence round the track, you need to be confident in the car.”
Raikkonen added: “We had some difficulties so I’m a bit surprised to be in this position after how the car felt today.
“We have to try and do a good job tomorrow and hopefully get two cars on the podium.”
The surprise struggles of Mercedes in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying could be the shot in the arm Formula One needs after a worryingly predictable spell, McLaren’s Jenson Button said on Saturday.
The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton, the reigning champion and current leader in the standings with a 53 point cushion, and Nico Rosberg could only manage fifth and sixth under the Marina Bay floodlights as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took pole.
It meant Mercedes’s run of consecutive poles ended at 23, one shy of the record set by Williams in 1993, while Hamilton also missed out by one on equalling Ayrton Senna’s record of eight consecutive poles by a driver.
The third row starting position was a disappointment but the bigger surprise was the size of the deficit on Vettel, almost 1.5 seconds, from a car which has dominated for two years.
Button, who won the drivers’ championship with Brawn in 2009, said the sight of both Ferrari and Red Bull qualifying ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg was welcome.
“I think it is the shot in the arm that the sport needs right now and it’s great to see a mixed up grid at the front, I think it’s good for everyone – including Mercedes,” he told reporters after qualifying in 15th.
“Maybe it’s a one-off, but who knows maybe it is going to continue. But there is no reason why it should continue.”
Button, 35 and hoping for an extension to his six-year stay with McLaren, said the Mercedes’ struggles in Singapore were reminiscent of his title winning year with Brawn, where he won six of the first seven races before encountering issues.
With overtaking opportunities scarce around the narrow, 23 turn street circuit in Singapore, Hamilton and Rosberg face a tough task to make it 11 wins from 13 races this year on Sunday.
Button, though, expected the duo to bounce back in Japan next week.
“I think, when we go to Suzuka you will see them strong again but it is whether they have the advantage that they have enjoyed for 32 races straight,” said the Briton.
“Hopefully they are not going to have the advantage going forward, hopefully there is going to be more of a fight. I think it is better for the whole sport.”
Source: Reuters
Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr commented that his qualifying crash was partly due to uncertainty in making the top ten shootout. Autosport.com has the story.
Carlos Sainz Jr said his crash at the end of Q2 in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying was partly due to him not knowing how close he was to getting into the top 10.
Sainz hit the wall on the exit of Turn 19 in the final sector, damaging his Toro Rosso car and disrupting the laps of several other drivers due to yellow flags.
But afterwards the Spaniard said if he’d been aware of how achievable a Q3 slot was, he would not have pushed so hard.
“We had a couple of problems that didn’t let me get a good baseline for a second run [in Q2],” said Sainz.
“On the dash I didn’t have my laptime so I didn’t know some things.
“I didn’t have my normal page, so I spent a whole lap trying to change it.
“So I needed to push quite hard and I was properly on the limit to get into Q3.
“I was eight tenths quicker than my previous lap, but I didn’t know that four tenths higher would get me easily into Q3.
“If I would have known that I would have probably not gone so crazy, so aggressive.
“It was a mistake – I caught a bit too much kerb and then I hit the wall, that’s it.”
Mercedes has ‘no explanation’ for its drop in form at the Singapore Grand Prix following a shock qualifying performance in which it fell behind Formula 1 rivals Ferrari and Red Bull.
Following a run of 23 consecutive pole positions for Mercedes, reigning champion Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg will start from fifth and sixth on the grid at the Marina Bay street circuit.
Hamilton finished 1.4s behind Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari claimed its first pole position for 61 races since the 2012 German Grand Prix.
Hamilton and Rosberg also find themselves behind Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, who sandwich Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari to complete the front two rows of the grid.
Asked to explain his team’s sudden lack of pace, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff said: “The moment we put the car on the ground in FP1 we seemed to struggle, and have gone backwards over the weekend.
“There are a lot of factors which have an influence, and we haven’t really determined yet what the main contributor to that loss of performance is.
“It’s still a very good car aerodynamically, so there is no explanation in the drop in performance of the car.
“Perhaps it’s a combination of the mechanical grip we have been able to extract from the tyre, and that we haven’t been able to put the car in the sweet spot of the tyre.
“To do that you need to have all the matrices right – ride height, camber, torque, pressure, temperatures.
“There is so much influence. This is a new one for us.
“And also what we have seen is a very impressive performance of Ferrari.
“They appear to have done a bloody awesome job on that one lap, and also Red Bull has found some pace.”
Wolff also suggested the circuit is not to Mercedes’ liking, in particular as last year the team “had the least margin” over its rivals and it is “a more difficult track for us than others”.
Lewis Hamilton, Singapore GP 2015
Hamilton added: “In actual fact it’s not the set-up. It’s just these tyres for some reason, for whatever reason, are not working on our car.
“We’ve not lost any performance on our car, the drivers have not lost any performance, so I don’t know why it is the case.
“The guys ahead have been quicker all weekend through every session, so you have to assume it’s going to be the same tomorrow.”
Rosberg knew he would be on the backfoot at the start of FP3 after losing time on his first run on the prime tyre, with the gap to the front leaving all in Mercedes “massively surprised”.
“We didn’t see this coming. We don’t understand it for now,” said Rosberg.
“We tried a lot of things this morning because we understood we had a bit of an emergency situation, but we didn’t manage to make progress. We were lacking grip.
“It’s now going to be very difficult to fight for the win.”
Source: Autosport.com