Singapore 2018 F1 Grand Prix: spectacular pole for Lewis Hamilton at Marina Bay

Singapore is one of those grand prix where overtaking is difficult and where, therefore, securing pole position and starting from the first place is very important. That is why Lewis Hamilton has celebrated almost as if it were a victory his spectacular lap time on the street circuit of Marina Bay, a lap that will see him start from the front of the grid in Sunday’s race.

This was also because, in theory, the Briton was not expected to be so far ahead of the Ferrari in Singapore. The prospects for Mercedes at this Singapore GP were not optimistic, and in free practice the two Ferrari drivers were ahead, but then qualifying arrives and there is nobody faster than Hamilton. And this is not the first time it has happened, so it makes you wonder whether Mercedes is hiding something before Saturday afternoon and is playing the role of the victim.

A Hamilton who had struggled in Q1, and yet in Q3, where everything has to be given, was able to improve by more than three seconds on last year’s pole position time. Beyond that, he also put more than half a second into Sebastian Vettel, who, before going wheel to wheel with Hamilton in the race, will also have to deal with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, which starts from second place.

Valtteri Bottas, fourth, Kimi Räikkönen, fifth, Daniel Ricciardo, sixth, Sergio Pérez, seventh, Romain Grosjean, eighth, Esteban Ocon, ninth, and Nico Hülkenberg, tenth, completed the group of drivers that reached Q3. Right behind them we have the two Spanish drivers, Fernando Alonso eleventh and Carlos Sainz twelfth, and although both were left just short of making it into Q3, there is reason to be pleased and to hope they can pick up some points in the race.

The complete and final times from this qualifying session of the 2018 F1 Singapore Grand Prix are as follows: