Rosberg will start his 200th Grand Prix from pole tomorrow at the Singapore GP under the floodlights. The German has won today’s qualifying and will start alongside Red Bull’s Ricciardo who managed to outrun Hamilton on the final lap. The Brit will start from the second row in P3 alongside the other Red Bull of Verstappen. Ferrari meanwhile will only have one car starting from within the top ten as Vettel was eliminated in Q1 due to a broken suspension. Raikkonen will start from P5.
Singapore GP 2016 Qualifying Results
1. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
2. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
3. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
4. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
5. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
6. Carlos Sainz – Toro Rosso
7. Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso
8. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
9. Fernando Alonso – McLaren
10. Sergio Perez – Force India
As the first street circuit F1 race in Asia, the Singapore Grand Prix has become one of the most interesting Grands Prix on the Formula 1 calendar. Held as a night race under floodlights, the Singapore GP has been held every single year since 2008, with a contract extending through to 2017. Sebastian Vettel has the most wins at 4 while Red Bull has the most wins in the manufacturer category with 3 victories.
GREEN LIGHT 🚥
Under way in #FP1 as #Quali starts under the lights#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1NightRace 🌃 pic.twitter.com/RGGeGzF1bQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 17, 2016
Wehrlein was the first driver to head out in Q1, and on soft tires. The two Mercedes cars of Rosberg and Hamilton did not take long before joining the action, and it was the Brit who topped the leaderboard with a 1m45.167s on ultrasoft tires.
Moments later, Raikkonen set the fastest time on 1m44.964s, the Finn had already shown incredible pace for Ferrari during Free Practice at Singapore GP. Verstappen was next to demote the Mercedes duo with a 1m45.036s which put him in P2 behind Raikkonen. The other Red Bull of Ricciardo stamped a 1m44.255s on the timesheet to go fastest, pushing Raikkonen and Verstappen in P2 and P3 respectively.
“This is stupid, we’re losing time,” said Vettel over the radio in regard to his broken car. A replay suggested that the Ferrari had a broken suspension.
Oooooooooooh Vettel! 😱
(That is all)— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) September 17, 2016
The chequered flag flew and Vettel had already taken his gloves off, meaning he will start from last tomorrow. The Ferrari man won the Singapore GP last season. Eliminated in Q1 were Magnussen, Nasr, Palmer, Wehrlein, Ocon and Vettel. To ten in Q1 were Ricciardo, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Perez, Button, Kvyat, Rosberg, Alonso and Gutierrez.
BREAKING: Sebastian Vettel eliminated in Q1 after mechanical issues#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #Quali pic.twitter.com/Hfy2bvM4tQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 17, 2016
Q2 kicked off moments later still under the floodlights, and both Red Bulls opted for supersoft tires. Ericsson set the times going with a 1m48.230s before Rosberg trimmed it down with a much faster 1m43.020s on ultrasoft tires. As always, the fastest lap in Q2 will dictate one’s tires in the main race.
First Q2 runs completed, back to the pits. #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/4cKPGxARyZ
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 17, 2016
Meanwhile, Hamilton also on ultrasoft tires went second fastest, leading Ricciardo, Verstappen, Raikkonen and Sainz after the first laps.
Trick = treat 😮
World famous @Dynamomagician keeps spectators occupied between sessions 💫 ✨ #SingaporeGP #Quali pic.twitter.com/fIZJNzeDWx
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 17, 2016
Grosjean then crashed at turn 10 after losing control under braking. Button was forced to dive into the escape road too after locking up, his left rear tire also appeared to be flat. That said, Bottas, Massa, Button, Gutierrez, Grosjean and Ericsson were all eliminated in Q2
The top ten in Q2 comprised of Rosberg, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Sainz, Alonso, Perez and Hulkenberg.
CHEQUERED FLAG: Session ends with GRO in the barriers#SingaporeGP #Quali pic.twitter.com/Qb7gGHm7a9
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 17, 2016
Q3 was delayed by 10 minutes to allow the reconstruction of the barriers at turn 10 after Grosjean’s shunt.
After the delay was over, Hulkenberg was the first driver to head out followed by the rest of the field besides Kvyat and Raikkonen. A series of fast times was set with Hulk going first, before Alonso and Ricciardo beat him to it. Rosberg’s 1m42.584s was however the best time to beat even though he would go ahead to complain, “Quite a lot of oversteer, in the last sector particularly, just make sure this change is not unexpectedly big please.”
Hamilton, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Sainz and Alonso followed Rosberg in that order. The chequered flag flew as the drivers were making the final runs, Hamilton ran wide on his final lap and never improved on his sectors. Ricciardo however managed to better his time with a 1m43.115s, enough to give him P2. Rosberg claimed a comfortable pole leading Ricciardo, Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Sainz, Kvyat, Hulk, Alonso and Perez.
