Nico Rosberg delivered one of his best ever qualifying performances to claim pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, on the occasion of his 200th Formula 1 race weekend.
Mercedes put to rest the nightmare of 2015, with Rosberg powering around Marina Bay Circuit in an astounding time of 1:42.584 which was half a second better than the next best and with it the German, who trails his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in the championship standings by two points, signaled his intent.
Hamilton on the other hand was out of sorts throughout qualifying, making a couple of mistakes on the night and the last of which cost him dearly – he was nearly a second down on Rosberg’s top time. He will start the race behind his teammate, from third on the grid.
Splitting the Mercedes on the timing sheets was Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull, who are determined to take the race to the Mercedes duo by completing Q2 on the supersofts, both Ricciardo and teammate Verstappen will start the race on the red band Pirelli tyres while the Silver Arrows (and most of the grid for that matter) will use the ultrasofts.
Like Hamilton, Verstappen was below par during the session complaining often over the radio . The teenager will start his final race as an eighteen year old from fourth on the grid.
Report in progress…
Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay Circuit – Saturday, Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:45.316 | 1:43.020 | 1:42.584 | 12 |
| 2 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:44.255 | 1:43.933 | 1:43.115 | 12 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:45.167 | 1:43.471 | 1:43.288 | 12 |
| 4 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:45.036 | 1:44.112 | 1:43.328 | 12 |
| 5 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:44.964 | 1:44.159 | 1:43.540 | 12 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1:45.499 | 1:44.493 | 1:44.197 | 14 |
| 7 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1:45.291 | 1:44.475 | 1:44.469 | 15 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India Mercedes | 1:46.081 | 1:44.737 | 1:44.479 | 17 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:45.373 | 1:44.653 | 1:44.553 | 15 |
| 10 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:45.204 | 1:44.703 | 1:44.582 | 20 |
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams Mercedes | 1:46.086 | 1:44.740 | 11 | |
| 12 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:46.056 | 1:44.991 | 11 | |
| 13 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren Honda | 1:45.262 | 1:45.144 | 13 | |
| 14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas Ferrari | 1:45.465 | 1:45.593 | 12 | |
| 15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:45.609 | 1:45.723 | 11 | |
| 16 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:46.427 | 1:47.827 | 12 | |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1:46.825 | 9 | ||
| 18 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber Ferrari | 1:46.860 | 8 | ||
| 19 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:46.960 | 9 | ||
| 20 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | MRT Mercedes | 1:47.667 | 8 | ||
| 21 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | MRT Mercedes | 1:48.296 | 9 | ||
| 22 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:49.116 | 4 |
Q1 107% time – 1:51.552
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