HAMILTON’S STUNNER SURPRISES EVEN HIM
Lewis Hamilton upset the odds to put his Mercedes on pole position for today’s Singapore Grand Prix following a scintillating lap in qualifying.
Hamilton’s rival Sebastian Vettel had been the favourite to take the glory under the floodlights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
But the Ferrari driver, who trails Hamilton by 30 points in the title race, finished only third, with Max Verstappen second for Red Bull.
Hamilton headed into yesterday’s session having failed to trouble the top of the order in any of the three practice sessions here.
But the defending champion pulled out an astonishing lap to claim the 79th pole of his career, and finish a third of a second faster than Verstappen.
Vettel was an enormous six-tenths slower than his rival, while Valtteri Bottas in the sister Mercedes finished three-quarters of a second down on Hamilton in fourth.
Moments after delivering yet another of his one-lap masterclasses, Hamilton was visibly shaking with the emotion of a performance which edges him ever closer to a fifth championship.
“Wow,” he said. “That lap felt like magic and I don’t know where it came from. It just all came together, and today I managed for that one lap to get it right.
“I am super overwhelmed and my heart is racing. I might have an anxiety attack in a second.
“It felt special. I don’t feel there was a moment in the lap where I ran wide or there were any problems. It felt like one of the best laps that I remember driving.”