Singapore GP: Lewis Hamilton on pole position for McLaren

Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took a sensational pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix.
The Englishman was nearly half a second clear of his closest rival, the Williams of Pastor Maldonado.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was third, ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Force India's Paul di Resta was sixth, ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber. Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, who is third in the championship, was 11th.
The Finn's team-mate Romain Grosjean was eighth, ahead of the Mercedes drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, who did not set a time in the top 10 shoot-out.
Hamilton's pole was his third in the last four races and came in stunning style.
He set his fastest time of one minute 46.362 seconds on his first flying lap in the final part of qualifying and none of his rivals were able to get anywhere close to him on their final runs.
"The guys have done a fantastic job all week," said Hamilton. "Sebastian [Vettel] was incredibly fast through most of the sessions so I'm very happy that I managed to pull that time out at the end.
"Trying to find a gap in qualifying is hard and making sure everything is up to temperature is hard too so I feel very fortunate that I got the time I needed."
Hamilton was 0.442 seconds quicker than Maldonado - and 0.577secs ahead of Button, who has been off his team-mate's pace all weekend.
"We were working very hard," said Maldonado. "At the beginning the weekend, we got a bit lost on set-up. We were trying to adapt the car to my style, we find a very nice balance especially in qualy two and qualy three."
Vettel's performance was a surprise - the German had swapped fastest times throughout the weekend with Hamilton but was slower in the final part of qualifying than he had been in the second part.
"[I'm] a little disappointed," said Vettel. "Especially Q3, I don't know why we couldn't do the step. But third is a good position to start from. It's a long race and a lot can happen."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said: "We did seem to lose a little bit of the rhythm there, especially on the out-laps."
Alonso's Ferrari has not been on the pace all weekend and the world championship leader was 0.854secs slower than Hamilton.
But the Spaniard's race pace looked strong in Friday's second practice session.
Schumacher and Rosberg scraped into the top 10 shoot-out but did not set a time, running only briefly on the slower, more durable, 'soft' tyres so they could start the race on them.
The rest of the top 10 will have to start on the 'super-soft' tyres with which they set their qualifying time.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi was the leading driver who failed to progress beyond the the first part of qualifying alongside the teams that were new to F1 in 2010, Caterham, Marussia and HRT.
The Japanese, who started on the front row in the Belgian Grand Prix three weeks ago, will start 18th, after being knocked out by Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne.
Kobayashi said he was not happy with the behaviour of the car. "I had huge oversteer, which is something I cannot handle on this circuit," he said. "It's very strange."
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I still feel Vettel and Alonso could be a threat in the race, particularly as the long run pace of the Ferrari looked strong in practice.
I can't say Mr Whitmarsh looked thrilled at pole, I'm sure he would have been happier with Button in that position.
Good job Lewis, now go on and win it while Maldonado causes carnage behind you..
Best drive from the best driver in the best car, simple as that tbh.
I can't understand where along the way people decided we had the right to start judging and being downright awful about people we don't even no who are doing what they love for our entertainment. It's a sport not a personality contest
Hamilton fans are just fed up with the biased way he is treated by the BBC.
If the boot was on the other foot, he'd say Hamilton's championship was over, its so obvious.
For once I agree with eddie Jordon, its only a matter of time before Button will have to conceed this championship for him to win the WDC he will need Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel and Kimi to drop alot of points which you cant see happening
Disappointed Jake is leaving the BBC; his enthusiasm for the sport. I always thought he was being groomed as the next BBC anchor - Commonwealth's, Olympics, Football etc. Does his jumping ship suggest something deeper, or further lack of effort in F1 by BBC ...
It was suggested having an extra set of tyres for Q3 but for some reason they've not bothered.
Lewis and Alonso are having as good a season as I can remember, hope Lewis wins tomorrow to put more pressure on Alonso
What's this rubbish? 2008, the title was Hamilton's, 2009 it was Button's, and 2010 Vettel's. Only last year did the winner went on to win the championship.
Everyone is on about JB but he is a slick operator and this has been his modus operundi in every team.