Nico Rosberg has put his Mercedes in Pole position for the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix, with team mate Lewis Hamilton starting in third behind Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull.
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Mercedes’ Rosberg, victor of both races since the mid-season break, posted the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying at one minute at 42.584 seconds, with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo second, over 0.5 secs slower.
Rosberg has seized the momentum in the title race since the sport’s summer break, winning the last two races to eat into Hamilton’s advantage in the standings and the German has been dominant in Singapore as his team mate has struggled.
NICO ROSBERG CLAIMED pole for Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix with last year’s victor Sebastian Vettel set to start from last place on the grid.
After equalling the great Juan Manuel Fangio’s tally of 29 poles, he said: “I am definitely happy with that one”.
Hamilton made a reference to the number of problems that have afflicted him this season, including the technical problems that were partly responsible for him falling 43 points behind Rosberg after the first four races.
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. While Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who stood out during Friday’s first practice session, ranked the fourth place.
“The last lap in Q3 was clean, probably not as good as Nico’s, but good enough to get on the front row”.
“I’m pleased with the front row”, said Ricciardo afterwards. We were still trying to find some stuff with the auto and it finally came good in qualifying, got better, the rhythm for the session was good. “Nico did a great job and he showed the potential of the vehicle”.
It has also been an unhappy couple of days for four-time Singapore GP victor Sebastian Vettel, who will start last after a suspension problem meant he was unable to set a competitive time.
Vettel was on track during Q1 when it became apparent that there was a problem with his Ferrari.
“I’ll try to get him at the start but if I don’t I’ll have to try and stay close behind, but their tyres should be able to go longer and they have more downforce as well so they are in a very strong position”.
What Hamilton needs now is to make the best of a hard position and target the best point finish to keep Rosberg honest in the championship battle. “We chose to go for another lap and then tried to pit to fix it and then there was no time”.
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Red Bull, who lived up to the pre-qualifying predictions by proving to be Mercedes’ nearest challengers, will employ a different tyre strategy in the race which could make for a fascinating battle.
