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Singapore GP: Lewis Hamilton on pole position for McLaren

By Andrew BensonChief F1 writer in Singapore

Last updated on .From the section Formula 1comments265

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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265 comments

  • Comment posted by HarryB, at 16:28 22 Sep 2012

    Shame on you DC you should not let your close friendship with jenson button affect your position as a BBC punter! Even Jake and eddie bust out laughing when u said button could still win championship an therefore it is too early to support Hamilton! What a joke talk about losing your credibility it was embarrassing!!!!

  • Comment posted by Markj161, at 17:30 22 Sep 2012

    Fantastic qualifying by Lewis who now has a great chance to take victory tomorrow.
    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.

  • Comment posted by U11717342, at 21:17 22 Sep 2012

    Cowards and bigots always love to deflect their motives towards those they dislike.Let us talk about racing and performance not about taxation question or country of residence.DC shameful and sad opinion that JB could still win the WDC was just so comical. I must say well done to Pastor Maldanado. What an awesome lap from LH, FA is just sitting tight and SV and PM will be in the hunt. Great year.

  • Comment posted by U15434048, at 20:17 22 Sep 2012

    Hands up if you bloody love F1. wooooooo

  • Comment posted by U14928174, at 17:28 22 Sep 2012

    Well that'll make all the Hamilton haters stfu for a while :D.

    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.

  • Comment posted by Rach1985, at 20:40 22 Sep 2012

    @99 just wondering if you know that Lewis moved to Switzerland whilst still under his dads management as it makes most sense. Also do you know where Jenson lives?

    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

  • Comment posted by xpres1001, at 17:43 22 Sep 2012

    @ 42

    Hamilton fans are just fed up with the biased way he is treated by the BBC.

  • Comment posted by LordVilla, at 23:55 22 Sep 2012

    Hamilton is the fastest driver. Much faster than Button. That he lives abroad, wears earings, has a famous girlfriend, is rich, is famous, is young, iand is a winner, does not change the fact that he is the fastest driver. It does, however, make a lot of little people very very jealous and they tend to come on here and give him abuse.

  • Comment posted by deperer, at 21:28 22 Sep 2012

    I can't believe DC thinks defending Jenson Button is worth risking losing his job over! That was the worst punditry bias ever. Even more so than the Hansen - Liverpool love-in.

    If the boot was on the other foot, he'd say Hamilton's championship was over, its so obvious.

  • Comment posted by U1579027, at 21:12 22 Sep 2012

    Well done Hamilton, a great pole lap no-one got close! , shame about button not getting on the front, Vettel looked abit stunned he didnt get on the front row.
    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

  • Comment posted by U14635779, at 20:13 22 Sep 2012

    Great qualifying session, awesome drives by HAM, but also MAL. Promises to be a great strategic race with the tyre degradation.

    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 ...

  • Comment posted by U14966550, at 19:20 22 Sep 2012

    It's sad to see 'fans' of Formula One treating it like it's football. Britain is privileged to have two world champion drivers racing simultaneously for a mainstay British racing team, and all I ever see on here are Hamilton and Button fanboys trying to denigrate the other's achievements. As hard as it might be for some of you to grasp, it is in fact possible to like and respect both of them.

  • Comment posted by Uncle_D, at 16:40 22 Sep 2012

    Main threats to Lewis: 1 McLaren pit crew 2 Pastor 3 Timing of inevitable safety car 4 Mechanical problem from hitting wall in Q3

  • Comment posted by U11717342, at 20:47 22 Sep 2012

    Absolutely imperious pole position from the supremely talented Lewis Hamilton. I am in Grenada on a short holiday and the locals here have really taken to F1. Even my gran is fan of LH, FA and RG. Looking forward to what will be a physically challenging race. I have to Whitmash is one of the most unprofessional team principals. As for JB he just gets worse every time. McLaren loss if LH leaves.

  • Comment posted by Moses101, at 20:33 22 Sep 2012

    @98, @95 I agree, Lewis and Alonso can win in an average car and so are in a league of their own. However I think the person closest to joining that league is Kimi. The guy is third in the championship driving a Lotus which, although quick, has proven very inconsistent over the season!

  • Comment posted by Funky, at 19:57 22 Sep 2012

    I am a Button fan but support all 3 British drivers, but i have to say if i was in Hamiltons shoes i wouldnt want to stay at Mclaren with Whitmarsh in charge.The way Whitmarsh talks about Button is like he is his long lost son that he found after 28 years, he is begrudging in his praise of Hamilton which is quite sad to see, but fair play to Hamilton he is letting his driving do the talking.

  • Comment posted by mrjones, at 17:49 22 Sep 2012

    @35 I agree.
    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

  • Comment posted by U15363957, at 16:44 22 Sep 2012

    Superb pole man.kindly do us a tweet to reassure us that everything is fine with the car. Am sory to all them reporters who are trying so hard to destabalize hamilton. So far it aint working.

  • Comment posted by U15433819, at 16:28 22 Sep 2012

    "The Singapore GP has only ever been won by drivers who went on to take the title - Fernando Alonso in 2008 and 2010, Lewis Hamilton in 2009 and Sebastian Vettel last year."
    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.

  • Comment posted by DaTroothurtzz, at 09:41 23 Sep 2012

    Oilburns @ 141... you are spot-on ever since Martin Whithmarsh parachuted Button into the team , all efforts were focused onJB in order to justify his decision which incidently hasnt paid any dividends so far.
    Everyone is on about JB but he is a slick operator and this has been his modus operundi in every team.

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