VETTEL ON POLE IN SINGAPORE, HAMILTON FIFTH
Vettel comes from nowhere to seize pole position
QUALIFYING TIMES
1. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:39.491, 2. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1:39.814, 3. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1:39.840, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:40.069, 5. Lewis Hamilton (Bri) Mercedes 1:40.126, 6. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:40.810, 7. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:41.013, 8. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Mclaren-Honda 1:41.179, 9. Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) Mclaren-Honda 1:41.398, 10. Carlos Sainz (Spa) Toro Rosso-Renault 1:42.056,
11. Jolyon Palmer (Bri) Renault 1:42.107, 12. Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India-Mercedes 1:42.246, 13. Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Toro Rosso-Renault 1:42.338, 14. Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India-Mercedes 1:42.760, 15. Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas-Ferrari 1:43.883, 16. Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas-Ferrari 1:43.756, 17. Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams-Mercedes 1:44.014, 18. Lance Stroll (Can) Williams-Mercedes 1:44.728, 19. Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:45.059, 20. Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:45.570. SINGAPORE: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel came from nowhere to seize pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix as he threw down the gauntlet to championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel, who had been anonymous in practice, timed a record 1:39.491 at the floodlit Marina Bay street circuit ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen will start fourth with Hamilton, who leads Vettel by just three points in the standings, fifth ahead of his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Verstappen had looked set to become the first teenager on pole position but Vettel stormed through with two blistering laps in the final session to snatch it by three-tenths.
“Yesterday was difficult, this afternoon was difficult but tonight the car just came alive,” said Vettel, who looked surprised by his own performance.
Qualifying has often been crucial in Singapore, where seven of the nine races so far have been won by the driver who started from pole position.
The drivers had got off to a slow start after a fire in a Porsche Carrera Cup race before qualifying left oil on the track at Turn 20, making driving conditions treacherous.
“The oil seems everywhere in the final sector,” complained Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, as the early times were far slower than those seen in practice.
Williams driver Felipe Massa slid heavily into the barriers, puncturing a rear tyre, and he was one of the five to drop out in Q1 as Red Bull’s Verstappen and Ricciardo led the timings.
The Ferraris set a quick pace at the start of Q2 as first Raikkonen and then Vettel went top, before Verstappen returned to the head of the table with a time of 1:40.379.
Verstappen and Ricciardo led the Ferrari pair and Hamilton into the top 10 shootout and the Dutch teenager soon gunned to 1:39.814 – before being eclipsed by Vettel’s 1:39.669.
Verstappen made a hash of his final lap and Vettel lowered his time to 1: 39.491, afterwards whooping and shouting to his teammates in Italian as he celebrated pole. — AFP