Singapore – Qualification: Hamilton Snatches Pole from Rosberg in a Thrilling Finish!

Rain should not threaten the qualifying session in Singapore, while heat and humidity are still present.

Q1: Quickly, Daniil Kvyat sets off followed by many drivers, including the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The Brit is warned that he has new brakes that need to be prepared correctly. Surprisingly, the smaller teams do not immediately jump into the battle. Rosberg, in his first attempt on soft tires, misses the braking at turn 8 and goes straight into the runoff area before returning to the track using reverse gear.

The challenge of this session will be to determine if the Mercedes can make it through Q1 without resorting to super-soft tires, as the soft ones seem to be working optimally on the W05 Hybrid. The first times are coming in: Hülkenberg, Vergne, and then Bottas successively take the lead, before Alonso positions himself only to be displaced by Hamilton with a time of 1:47.847. Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean is complaining about a brake issue following a straight-line incident. Gutierrez, on super-soft tires, falls a tenth short of the leading Mercedes. These tires are being fitted on most back-of-the-grid cars, like the Lotus, forcing the weaker top teams to use them as well.

Rosberg, Räikkönen, and Vettel—who hadn’t driven since the beginning—want to ensure performance on super-soft tires. The four-time world champion is hindered by Kvyat on his first attempt. Ricciardo takes the fastest time, three-tenths ahead of Hamilton, who also comes out with the softest tires. All drivers have fitted the red-walled tires. Times are dropping rapidly at the top of the timing sheets: Hülkenberg then Räikkönen take the lead. The two Ferraris are at the front, and Hamilton can’t do better.

At the back, it’s Sutil and Maldonado who suffer in Q1, while Gutierrez and Grosjean move on to Q2.

Eliminated in Q1: Sutil, Maldonado, Bianchi, Kobayashi, Chilton and Ericsson

Q2: Most of the drivers quickly take to the track on super-soft tires, which could mean that two sets will be used for this second part of the qualification. Perez is the first to start a flying lap. The battle begins between the two cars most comfortable on the Singapore track, the Ferraris: Alonso leads Räikkönen by 31 milliseconds. But Hamilton is not to be outdone: he passes the Spaniard with a 41-millisecond lead. After this first round, Ricciardo and Rosberg complete the top 5.

Will all the drivers go out for a second attempt? It seems unlikely. The top four drivers remain in the pits while Massa heads out first to try to get into Q3. The Brazilian improves and moves ahead of Ricciardo, who has stayed calmly in his garage. Behind, Magnussen secures his place in the top 10, but neither Button nor Vergne manage to get out of the danger zone. Rosberg, meanwhile, puts on an extra set of tires and logically sets the fastest time, 4 tenths ahead of Hamilton.

Eliminated in Q2: Button, Vergne, Hülkenberg, Gutierrez, Pérez, and Grosjean

Q3: All the drivers are heading out on track for this final part of the qualification. Surprisingly, it is Felipe Massa who is leading at the end of this first round. The top seven drivers are within just over two-tenths. The Brazilian is followed by Ricciardo, Alonso, Räikkönen, Bottas, Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Kvyat, and Magnussen. It remains to be seen who has started with new or used tires. In any case, Hamilton is complaining about understeer and asking for more front-end grip.

The time to go through the pits and the second round is launched. And right from the start, a power issue for Räikkönen who has to stop in the pits. Ricciardo takes the provisional pole before Rosberg displaces him by a tenth, but it’s ultimately Hamilton who surprises everyone by 7 thousandths! What a session!