Ricciardo’s pace in the Red Bull is something of a concern for Rosberg, but he is confident he has enough to keep the Australian at bay on Sunday.
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But the big story of the day was when four-time victor and last year’s pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel failed to clear the first part of qualifying after a mechanical issue in the rear suspension of his Ferrari. Nasr, Palmer, Wehrlein and Ocon filled positions 18 through to 21, with Vettel set to start 22nd.
Vettel was slowest overall in Saturday’s Q1 session after a right-rear suspension link broke on his first qualifying run, leaving his vehicle as a three-wheeler in left-hand corners.
And while Rosberg has led the way in two of the three practice sessions, Red Bull appear to be in a position to challenge the Silver Arrows for pole position later on Saturday.
The Manor’s were slowest bar Vettel’s limping Ferrari.
After a 10-minute delay while the plastic barriers in Turn 10 were fixed, Q3 saw Rosberg annihilate the opposition with a lap of 1m 42.584s which proved to be a massive 0.704s faster than Hamilton, who struggled to get his left front tyre up to temperature.
In last month’s Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, who started from the back of the grid, eventually worked his way up to finish third. “But there’s lots of safety cars at this race so lots can happen during the race”.
Ferrari have opted to replace Sebastian Vettel’s power unit and gearbox ahead of the Marina Bay race, no doubt due to the German’s calamitous qualifying session. There are normally incidents and safety cars so it won’t be straightforward, but I feel good and ready to go.
After withstanding a late surge from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, Rosberg’s victory, his third in succession since the summer break, has propelled him eight points clear of his Mercedes team-mate with six races remaining.
And there were more concerns for their Mercedes engineers before lights out, as Rosberg complained that his clutch was under-engaged. Kimi too is on the purple marked ultra softs while Red Bull head out on new super softs.
Hamilton (1:45.806) was only eighth fastest, undoing the good work of a blistering first sector on his flying lap when he locked up on ultrasoft tyres. Raikkonen said it is obvious what Ferrari is lacking compared to Mercedes. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso); 7. Fernando Alonso will start ninth for McLaren. Valtteri Bottas (Williams), 12.
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Jenson Button will start 13th after his auto stopped on the track and his fellow Brit Jolyon Palmer qualified 19th.
