Nico Rosberg will be in prime position to secure his first podium victory at the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday (Sept 18) after the Mercedes driver produced a superb qualifying race to claim the quickest lap time (1:42.584) in Q3 and secure pole position.

This year’s Singapore Grand Prix is the German’s 200th Formula One race, and he marked the milestone moment with his first pole position at the Marina Bay circuit.

But the Silver Arrows saw their effort to lock up the front row thwarted by Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, as the Aussie driver turned on the heat in his final lap of Q3 to claim second spot in 1:43.115.

World championship leader Lewis Hamilton was understandably in a glum mood after Saturday’s qualifying session, after a poor last lap which saw him making an error on Turn 2 and missing the apex on the next turn. He finished third in 1:43.288, 0.17 sec behind Ricciardo.

Dutch teenager Max Verstappen – who is the only driver to post a race win this season in Spain – will start Sunday’s race beside Hamilton after placing fourth in qualifying.

A victory in Singapore will see Rosberg leapfrogging Hamilton in the driver’s championship leaderboard, with the 31-year-old German currently only two points behind Hamilton (250).

“I’m definitely happy with that one for my 200th Grand Prix,” said Rosberg in the post-qualifying press conference tonight. “I’m happy that it went well. At times it wasn’t clear in qualifying how we would stack up against Red Bull so I had to give it everything and pull it out of the bag, which is cool.

Ricciardo will be hungry for a first race win this 2016 season after coming heartbreakingly close in Spain and Monaco this year, losing out both times due to a team strategy error and pit stop mess-up respectively.

“I am pleased enough – the aim was to be in on the front row, we knew it would be tough to get in front of the Mercedes, but it was nice to be in front of at least one of them,” he said.

“We made improvements through qualifying and, in practice we were still trying to find stuff in the car, and it finally came good in qualifying. The rhythm throughout the session was good.”

Riccardo was even able to crack a joke in the press conference, as he added: “We created a good opportunity starting in the front row. Hopefully, it’s a new winner (in Singapore).”

Turning to Rosberg who was seated next to him, he added with a smile: “We (Rosberg and I) can’t both win, sorry!”

Two-time Singapore champion Hamilton is well aware that he will have a fight on his hands on Sunday. “I haven’t got a good lap out there and hopefully tomorrow I can get one step ahead," he said.

"I’ve been on the back all year round and I did the best from there. It’s a very hard track to overtake but lots can happen in a race.”

Formula 1 fans may be moaning about Mercedes’ dominance killing interest in the sport, but Saturday’s qualifying session proved far from boring for spectators and television viewers worldwide.

Ferrari fans were left reeling after Sebastian Vettel – the defending champion who has won four races here – was unexpectedly eliminated in Q1. The four-time world champion, who complained about anti-roll bar issues with his car, will start his race from an unfamiliar spot – at the back of the grid – after the team were unable to fix his car in time for the first qualifying session.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Low Lin Fhoong

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