Hamilton’s baffled by ’Pore show
Singapore Grand Prix Today, 1.10pm
CHARLES LECLERC secured his third pole position in a row under the Singapore spotlights – and left Lewis Hamilton baffled by Ferrari’s pace.
The Monegasque driver beat Hamilton’s Mercedes by 0.191sec as both slipped ahead of early pacesetter Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari on their last qualifying laps.
Formula One’s rising star continued his dazzling form under the thousands of bulbs that light up the Marina Bay Street Circuit and championship leader Hamilton said: “I don’t know where Ferrari picked up their pace. This has not been one of their strong tracks.
“Charles did a great job and I needed a really special lap at the end.
“I gave it everything I had. In the race we can be aggressive, it is a street track, so we will see.”
This was expected to be a straight fight between Mercedes and Red Bull, but Leclerc, 21, and Ferrari had other ideas on one of the toughest circuits on the calendar.
The Italian team brought a big aerodynamic upgrade package to Singapore and it has worked a treat.
Leclerc will now be the favourite to secure his third consecutive victory.
He said: “We came here knowing it was a difficult track for us, so the team have done an amazing job.
“We brought some new bits that worked properly, which is not always the case.”
After Vettel set an early marker, Leclerc’s second run was sublime and Hamilton had no answer.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth, split from teammate Alexander Albon by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.