Sebastian Vettel takes pole in Singapore, with the Red Bull pair 2nd and 3rd. Mercedes struggled today, with Hamilton only managing 5th place.
Q1
With oil left on track from a session earlier in the day, the track was slippery at turn 20 through to 21. This caught out Massa, who hit the wall at 21, damaging his car. His teammate also clipped the wall during the session. After the impressive showing in Monza, this qualifying was disappointing for Williams, loosing both drivers in Q1.
Both Saubers failed to reach Q2, with Magnussen also pushed out. Both Force Indias were in danger in the closing stages of the session, with the track improving massively but they both just scraped through.
Out in Q1:
- Magnussen
- Massa
- Stroll
- Wehrlein
- Ericsson
Q2
Mercedes were first of the front runners to set times in Q1, but they were immediately beaten by the two Ferraris. However, it was Red Bull – who have been strong all weekend – who went fastest, with Verstappen marginally quicker than Ricciardo.
In a strong session for McLaren, both drivers made it through to the top ten shootout. Both Force Indias failed to escape the drop zone, with Kvyat and Grosjean also eliminated. Palmer just missed out on the top ten, finishing 11th – outqualified again by his teammate.
Out in Q2:
- Palmer
- Perez
- Kvyat
- Ocon
- Grosjean
Q3
With the battle looking extremely close at the top, the teams prepared for an exciting session. Raikkonen was first to set a time, on a 1:40.069 but he was immediately beaten by Verstappen, who broke into the 1:39s with a time of 1:39.814. But just seconds later he was knocked off top spot by Vettel, on a 1:39.669. Neither Mercedes were able to come close though.
Onto the final runs, Verstappen failed to improve on his run, having to settle for second place. Vettel improved by another couple of tenths to a 1:39.491 to secure pole position. Behind Verstappen, Ricciardo was third and Raikkonen 4th.
Mercedes were disappointed to finish way down in 5th and 6th, unable to match the pace of their rivals. Hulkenberg was a strong 7th for Renault, ahead of the McLarens of Alonso and Vandoorne. Sainz, a long way off the others, finished the session 10th.
Q3 Results:
- Vettel
- Verstappen
- Ricciardo
- Raikkonen
- Hamilton
- Bottas
- Hulkenberg
- Alonso
- Vandoorne
- Sainz
The Grid
Unlike the confusion in Monza, it looks as if the grid will remain the same as the qualifying result. Therefore, the provisional grid for tomorrow is:
Vettel, Verstappen; Ricciardo, Raikkonen; Hamilton, Bottas; Hulkenberg, Alonso; Vandoorne, Sainz; Palmer, Perez; Kvyat, Ocon; Grosjean, Magnussen; Massa, Stroll; Wehrlein, Ericsson.