Singapore – Qualifications: Vettel, the pole by a whisker!

The Singapore night hosts the 13th qualifying session of the 2013 season: heat (29°C in the air, 31°C on the track) and humidity (69%) are still on the agenda for a session where Sebastian Vettel is once again the favorite.

Q1: No one is taking to the track at the moment. At Red Bull, it’s relaxed: Mark Webber is at the back of his garage, while Sebastian Vettel is just walking up the paddock, headphones on, heading towards his garage. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) and Paul di Resta (Force India) are the first drivers on track, soon joined by most of the top drivers.

After more than six minutes, it’s Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) who sets the first real benchmark time at 1:47.087 on medium (white) tires. His teammate, Nico Rosberg, clocks in at 1:46.288. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) misses the first corner, which doesn’t prevent him from taking the provisional second place. Times are noticeably improving: Hamilton and Grosjean move back into the top 3, but Rosberg remains ahead of them. The Red Bulls, mid-session, are still not on track.

Nico Hülkenberg is the first to go out on the super soft (red) tires: he logically sets the provisional fastest time, with 1:45.381, nine-tenths ahead of Rosberg. Esteban Gutierrez, also on super softs, takes third place, a second behind his teammate. Vettel finally hits the track, 7 minutes from the end. On his first flying lap, on medium tires, he clocks 1:45.755, placing him P2, then P3 as Webber tops the timesheets with 1:45.271. He does a tenth better, on medium tires, than Hülkenberg on super soft tires.

Less than 5 minutes before the end of Q1, Rosberg and Hamilton go for a new lap time, but on super-soft tires this time. The German sets a time of 1:45.208, but Sergio Pérez, then Jenson Button, and finally Lewis Hamilton do better, all on super-soft tires. Felipe Massa is in the danger zone, but he goes back out on super-softs and saves himself. Giedo van der Garde, attacking, heavily touches the wall but doesn’t seem to suffer from the impact and continues his race. Surprise for Di Resta who fails in Q1! Grosjean – like the Red Bulls – managed to stay in the top 17 without using his soft tires; a detail that could be important for the end of qualifying.

**Eliminated in Q1:** Di Resta, Maldonado, Pic, Van der Garde, Bianchi, and Chilton

Q2: Once again, no one is in a hurry to get started, and the track remains silent for a few moments. Kimi Räikkönen breaks the calm and leads the way. The Finn is permitted, via radio, to do two consecutive flying laps, which seems to be the maximum capacity of the super-soft tires: he clocks in a 1:44.794, but the Mercedes are also on track. For now, only the Red Bull, McLaren, and Grosjean have not gone out.

More than 10 minutes left in this second part of the session, and Rosberg takes the lead with a 1:43.892, the provisional best time of the weekend. Hamilton is just under 30 thousandths behind. Alonso, in third, is six-tenths off. Vettel, Webber, and Grosjean finally take to the track: they wait until mid-Q2 as they already have an extra set of tires compared to the other drivers. The Frenchman spends half of his first warm-up lap in the exhaust of the triple world champion. It’s worth noting, before the final fight, that Hülkenberg is provisionally in fourth place.

Vettel starts the timer: he sets the best times in all three sectors and ultimately clocks 1:42.905, eight-tenths ahead of Webber. Grosjean is fifth behind the two Red Bulls and the two Mercedes; the Lotus driver is less than a tenth behind the Silver Arrows. The McLarens are just coming out: they will attempt to enter Q3 in a single lap.

The top four are in the pits while others are trying to settle it behind: Grosjean attempts a second flying lap with his worn tires, but he’s not troubled. Massa and Ricciardo improve, as does an astonishing Esteban Gutierrez who takes the provisional sixth fastest time! Incredible, as behind them, Räikkönen struggles in Q2! The Finn seems hindered by a back problem on the Singapore track. Hülkenberg is narrowly beaten by Button, who gave everything on his single flying lap.

Eliminated in Q2: Hülkenberg, Vergne, Räikkönen, Pérez, Sutil, and Bottas.

Q3: This time, a queue has formed at the end of the pit lane! The Red Bulls, the Mercedes, and Romain Grosjean will enliven the beginning of this final part of the session. Button too, but by starting on medium tires, he will certainly be less spectacular. Honor to whom honor is due: Vettel is the first to trigger the clock. In the first sector, he is already two-tenths faster than the other four contenders for pole. The second and third sectors are just as easily erased: he clocks 1:42.841! Rosberg and Webber are six-tenths behind, Hamilton and Grosjean seven.

The second round begins, launched by Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. Everyone is on the track, except for Vettel, who stops there for today. However, the sectors are falling! The drivers are significantly improving their times and Vettel is under threat: Rosberg misses by less than a tenth! Grosjean by two tenths! Webber, who competed for a long time, collapsed in the third sector and achieves the fourth time, behind the two men.

Result of the 2013 Singapore Grand Prix qualifying: