Sebastian Vettel claimed his 11th pole position in 14 grands prix in Singapore on Saturday night, setting himself up perfectly for a potentially momentous race in which he could clinch his second consecutive world title.
In an otherwise hard-fought contest at the front, Vettel was simply in a class of his own, luxuriating in a half-second cushion over his closest rivals throughout all three segments of the qualifying hour.
Team-mate Mark Webber ultimately closed the margin to 0.35s to ensure a Red Bull lockout of the front row, as Vettel aborted his final Q3 run after losing time in the middle sector of the lap.
Jenson Button pipped McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton for third on the grid by an infinitesimal 0.005s, with Hamilton having just one Q3 shot after a delay in refuelling his car between runs.
It was an eventful session all round for the 2008 world champion, who brushed the wall at the end of Q2 and punctured his right-rear tyre, and almost made contact with Felipe Massa when the pair were jockeying for position on their out-laps at the start of Q3.
Fernando Alonso wound up fifth despite setting a time just 0.14s slower than second-placed Webber and almost a second quicker than his Ferrari team-mate Massa, who will line up alongside him in sixth.
Nico Rosberg was the only other driver to set a Q3 time and will start seventh ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher.
The ‘Noah’s Ark’ team symmetry continued on row five, which was annexed by Force India duo Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta.
Sergio Perez took 11th for Sauber, but team-mate Kamui Kobayashi’s woes continued as he launched his C30 over the kerbs and into the wall at the now-notorious ‘Singapore Sling’ chicane, bringing out the red flag early in Q2.
Williams team-mates Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado were 12th and 13th respectively, a somewhat improved showing from the Grove squad, while Renault’s fortunes took a tumble, with Bruno Senna ending up 15th and Vitaly Petrov joining the Q1 casualties in 18th.
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