Singapore: Lewis Hamilton snatched a dramatic last-gasp pole position from his Mercedes teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg for Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix with a phenomenal lap in the final seconds of Saturday’s qualifying session.
The 29-year-old Briton left it late, crossing the line after three rivals had in succession cut their times to take provisional pole to the raucous delight of the crowd as he secured the prime starting position by just 0.007 seconds.
Rosberg, who leads him by 22 points in the drivers’ championship with six races remaining, will start alongside him from second place after the Mercedes pairing grabbed their team’s seventh one-two of the year.
It was Hamilton’s third pole success in Singapore, his sixth this season and the 37th of his career.
Rosberg’s reaction was pithy, but understandable when he was given the news on team radio: “Dammit!”
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, whose lap appeared to be enough for pole, delighted many of his compatriots packed into the Marina Bay street circuit by claiming third on the grid for Red Bull ahead of his teammate and defending four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, winner of the last three Singapore races.
Behind the two Red Bulls, Fernando Alonso qualifying fifth for Ferrari ahead of Felipe Massa of Williams and Kimi Raikkonen, who was seventh in the second Ferrari.
