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Sebastian Vettel moved a step closer to becoming Formula One’s youngest back-to-back and double world champion after clinching pole position for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old German was in a class of his own in claiming the top spot for the 11th time from 14 races this year, to move within three of equalling Nigel Mansell’s 1992 record for number of poles in a season.
Vettel’s hot lap of one minute 44.381secs under the bright lights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit was a third of a second quicker than Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber. The pole also extends the team’s run to 15 in a row, with Red Bull closing in on Williams’ astonishing run of 24.
Webber knocked Lewis Hamilton off the front row as the Briton was poised for his fifth P2 start in succession. However, a puncture sustained in Q2 limited the McLaren star to only one run in the top-10 shoot-out in order to save a set of the faster supersoft tyres.
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Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix - Race Line Up
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Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix - First Practice Results
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in Second Practice at Singapore
Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix - Second Practice Results
Formula 1: Mark Webber Fastest in Final Practice at Singapore
Formula 1: Singapore Grand Prix - Final Practice Results
Hamilton will instead line up fourth behind team-mate Jenson Button, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso fifth, followed by team-mate Felipe Massa and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg in seventh. Irish Times
Force India got both cars into Q3 but chose not to run in the final segment, so fill row five. Michael Schumacher did not set a time either and starts eighth for Mercedes.
Renault’s prediction of a very tough weekend came true as its drivers ended up fighting to escape from Q1. Bruno Senna was in the drop-zone before a mighty last lap got him up to 15th (where he would stay in Q2), but knocked his team-mate Vitaly Petrov down to an eliminated 18th, the Russian’s time nearly a second slower than Senna’s.
The Force Indias’ last Q2 laps denied Sergio Perez a Q3 place and left him 11th. His Sauber team-mate Kamui Kobayashi caused a Q2 red flag when the aggressive approach he had taken to the Turn 10 chicane all weekend became rather too wild and he launched his car into the wall.
The Williams will start 12th and 13th, while the Toro Rossos qualified either side of Senna in 14th and 16th. Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Then came Sebastien Buemi on 1m 48.634s for Toro Rosso, Bruno Senna on 1m 48.662s for Renault, and Jaime Alguersuari on 1m 48.862s in the second STR06. Kobayashi will line up 17th with no time.
Vettel headed Q1 by half a second from Button, with Hamilton and Alonso close behind, but further back a late improvement put Senna into 15th place and Q2 at the expense of Renault team mate Vitaly Petrov. The Russian was thus the first faller, in 18th place, on 1m 49.835s. The Renault-powered Lotuses of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli followed him with 1m 50.948s and 1m 51.012s respectively, ahead of a tight battle between the Virgins and the HRTs.
Timo Glock bounced ahead of the Spanish cars right at the end with 1m 52.154s for 21st, as did Jerome d’Ambrosio for 22nd with 1m 52.363s. That left Daniel Ricciardo 23rd on 1m 52.404s, and Tonio Liuzzi last on 1m 52.810s. The Italian in any case has a five-place grid penalty from Monza. Formula 1
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