Qualifying – Singapore: Vettel’s Brilliant Pole Position Against the Red Bulls!
While the Red Bulls dominated the qualifying sessions at the Marina Bay circuit, Sebastian Vettel managed to surprise everyone in Q3 and snatch pole position. The Mercedes drivers appeared powerless throughout the session and will have to settle for the third row on the grid tomorrow.
More than ever during this 2017 season, the outcome of the qualifying session of the Singapore Grand Prix seems uncertain, with a pole position coveted by the Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes drivers. The Austrian team dominated Friday’s practice with a very incisive Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the Mercedes, relieved to be ahead of the outpaced Ferraris. However, the third practice session saw a clear improvement from the red cars, poised to challenge Red Bulls for the best times, in front of somewhat disillusioned Silver Arrows.
Q1: The Red Bulls at the forefront, the McLarens in their wake
On a track that was visibly very slippery and therefore less performant, the times achieved at the beginning of Q1 were more than 2 seconds slower than those set the day before under race-type conditions with full fuel tanks and less strained engines.
As observed throughout the weekend with all the drivers, Felipe Massa hit his right rear wheel against the wall, which ended up breaking.
Big collision between MAS and the barriers 💥
Looks like considerable damage to the rear of his Williams #SingaporeGP #F1NightRace #F1 pic.twitter.com/7CjTwJBAFj
— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 septembre 2017
The track seems to be improving lap after lap to the point of having a rather original hierarchy at the end of Q1, with Ferrari only in 11th and 12th while Verstappen and Ricciardo continue to dominate the proceedings at the top of the timesheets ahead of an unexpectedly fast Fernando Alonso this Saturday, along with his Belgian teammate Stoffel Vandoorne.
Q1 done ✅ Fernando, P3 and Stoff, P5. Nicely done! 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/cjlCNRj86c
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 16 septembre 2017
Eliminated in Q1: 16th Magnussen, 17th Massa, 18th Stroll, 19th Wehrlein, 20th Ericsson
The French eliminated in Q2
The first attempts in Q2 give a preview of the frontrunners’ potential for Q3. Red Bull continues to keep strong competition against Italian rival Ferrari: after a first stint of timed laps, Verstappen holds onto first place ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Ricciardo, and Kimi Räikkönen. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes is already 0.7 seconds behind the Dutch driver, while his teammate is more than 1 second adrift.
Considering the constant improvement of the track, all the drivers wait in their garages until the last 3 minutes of Q2 to make the most of it without being caught off guard by their competitors.
At the end of Q2, the Red Bull drivers reclaim their rights at the top of the hierarchy, this time ahead of Ferraris revived in these qualifications. Conversely, the French drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Ocon fail in their final attempt to make it into Q3. While Nico Hülkenberg’s Renault secures its place in Q3, his British teammate misses this target once again this year.
Eliminated in Q2: Palmer 11th, Pérez 12th, Kvyat 13th, Ocon 14th, Grosjean 15th.
Vettel unbeatable calms the fervor of Red Bull in Q3!
Räikkönen is the first to start in this last part of qualifying with two fast first sectors but a tricky final sector due to overheating ultra-soft tires. Quickly beaten by the Red Bull drivers, it’s Vettel who sets a phenomenal time in less than 1 min 40 s, just 0.2 s ahead of Max Verstappen.
At the end of the first stint, the first Mercedes is Hamilton’s, only 5th behind Ricciardo and Räikkönen, 0.5 seconds behind Vettel’s time!
FASTEST SECTORS
3 sectors, 3 drivers ⏱️
This last five minutes of qualifying is going to be awesome 🙌
Hold on tight 👀#SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/CRiNWxJZTt
— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 septembre 2017
In the final relay, the first sector of the Ferrari drivers “lights up in purple” against a timid improvement for Ricciardo and no improvement for Verstappen.
In the end, only Vettel and Hamilton improve their respective times without changing the standings: Sebastian thus claims pole position here, 0.3 seconds ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull, leaving the Mercedes far behind!
This is the 49th pole position in the career of the four-time German world champion.
🏁 TOP TEN: END OF QUALIFYING 🏁
1 VET 📸
2 VER
3 RIC
4 RAI
5 HAM
6 BOT
7 HUL
8 ALO
9 VAN
10 SAI#SingaporeGP #F1NightRace #F1 pic.twitter.com/a9HbPyemsm— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 septembre 2017
