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Hamilton storms to pole for Singapore Grand Prix
Source: AFP |
September 23, 2012, Sunday
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MCLAREN'S Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth pole position of the season in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying yesterday to strengthen his bid for a second world title.
The Briton settled a thrilling session with a lightning lap of 1 minute 46.362 seconds early in the third qualifying session which proved beyond reach of other drivers at the Marina Bay street circuit. The 2008 champion was nearly half-a-second quicker than Pastor Maldonado of Williams.
Red Bull's defending world champion Sebastian Vettel will be on the second row of the grid for today's race alongside Jenson Button, Hamilton's McLaren teammate.
Championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari settled for fifth, Force India's Paul di Resta was sixth, Red Bull's Mark Webber was seventh and Romain Grosjean of Lotus, back from a one-race ban over a crash in Belgium, survived some scary moments to claim eighth.
Mercedes' Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg opted to preserve their tires for the race and spent most of Q3 in the garage, settling for ninth and 10th places, respectively.
Hamilton trails Alonso by 37 points heading into the last seven races, but yesterday's performance underlines form that has won him two of the last three races - despite intense speculation over his future.
"It's an incredibly tough circuit for tire degradation," said the Briton, who has been linked with a move to Mercedes.
"I think everyone's going to struggle with that. We just want to get away well at the start (on Sunday) and continue with the strategy we've planned."
Grosjean was quickest in Q1 ahead of di Resta, former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel and Hamilton, who seemed untroubled by a bumpy run over the chicane curbs.
Bruno Senna also escaped serious damage when he clipped a barrier after running wide to overtake a slower car. But the Williams driver lasted just a few minutes of Q2 before a similar mistake loosened a rear wheel and put him out.
Grosjean had a close call when he knocked a barrier early in Q2, but re-emerged to continue the session after a check by his pit mechanics.
Seven-time world champion Schumacher escaped elimination in his last lap of the session to time ninth quickest. Hamilton led Q2 ahead of Vettel, Webber, Grosjean and Alonso.
The Briton settled a thrilling session with a lightning lap of 1 minute 46.362 seconds early in the third qualifying session which proved beyond reach of other drivers at the Marina Bay street circuit. The 2008 champion was nearly half-a-second quicker than Pastor Maldonado of Williams.
Red Bull's defending world champion Sebastian Vettel will be on the second row of the grid for today's race alongside Jenson Button, Hamilton's McLaren teammate.
Championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari settled for fifth, Force India's Paul di Resta was sixth, Red Bull's Mark Webber was seventh and Romain Grosjean of Lotus, back from a one-race ban over a crash in Belgium, survived some scary moments to claim eighth.
Mercedes' Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg opted to preserve their tires for the race and spent most of Q3 in the garage, settling for ninth and 10th places, respectively.
Hamilton trails Alonso by 37 points heading into the last seven races, but yesterday's performance underlines form that has won him two of the last three races - despite intense speculation over his future.
"It's an incredibly tough circuit for tire degradation," said the Briton, who has been linked with a move to Mercedes.
"I think everyone's going to struggle with that. We just want to get away well at the start (on Sunday) and continue with the strategy we've planned."
Grosjean was quickest in Q1 ahead of di Resta, former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel and Hamilton, who seemed untroubled by a bumpy run over the chicane curbs.
Bruno Senna also escaped serious damage when he clipped a barrier after running wide to overtake a slower car. But the Williams driver lasted just a few minutes of Q2 before a similar mistake loosened a rear wheel and put him out.
Grosjean had a close call when he knocked a barrier early in Q2, but re-emerged to continue the session after a check by his pit mechanics.
Seven-time world champion Schumacher escaped elimination in his last lap of the session to time ninth quickest. Hamilton led Q2 ahead of Vettel, Webber, Grosjean and Alonso.
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