Ferrari 's Vettel clinches Singapore pole position in stunning fashion

Singapore - The German's pole position lap of 1 minute 39.491 seconds is the fastest lap ever around the Singapore circuit, after Ricciardo who as the first one to break the record on Friday with a fastest best of 1 minute 40. 852 seconds in the second free practice session.

In an exciting qualifying session at the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel secured pole position for the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix with an astonishing lap, setting a new track record. The four-time World Champion was followed by the two Red Bull Racing drivers Max Verstappen qualifying second and Daniel Ricciardo who qualified third. 
The German's pole position lap of 1 minute 39.491 seconds is the fastest lap ever around the Singapore circuit, after Ricciardo who as the first one to break the record on Friday with a fastest best of 1 minute 40. 852 seconds in the second free practice session. Vettel pole lap was 0.323 seconds clear off the Red Bulls, more than half a second quicker than the Mercedes, and 3.1 seconds faster than last year's pole lap. 
Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had an end minute brush with the wall on his final attempt of the third session of qualifying, missing the top three by a whisker and had to settle for fourth spot on the grid. 
Lewis Hamilton struggled to finish in the top four and was only able to place himself as high as fifth place, despite the extra power mode advantage. The Mercedes are in third row for the first time this season, with Valterri Bottas sealing the final spot of the row with the sixth fastest time of the session. 
Renault's Nico Hulkenberg qualified seventh, and was followed by McLaren's Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard's team-mate followed him by clocking the ninth fastest time, while his Spanish counterpart Carlos Sainz sealed tenth spot, to complete the top 10 of the grid. 
A critical question every spectator would want to know is why the Mercedes struggled so hard? The answer is simple, this street circuit and its warm temperatures have been the biggest challenge for the Silver Arrows squad since their inception as a team, when it comes to the cooling in the car and tyre management. 
Marina Bay is the least power-sensitive circuit, and can be physically demanding on the drivers, and a better engine does not make much of a difference, but a well-designed chassis does. A clear inference from the free practice sessions and qualifying has been how the Red Bull cars have been leading the pack, and the McLaren's who have had the worst engine could place the car as high as P3 on the time-sheets. On the current grid, if the car chassis had to be rated the Red Bull Racing team has the best chassis followed by McLaren with the second best. 
The Mercedes team had mentioned in Monza, that they were expecting to struggle at this circuit, and Hamilton for the first time participate in a tyre test at Paul Riccard, to figure the complexities of their car. 
For Ferrari, it was easy, they never got a clear run on lighter fuel loads to top the time-sheets in the practice sessions, but managed finding pace in the third practice session before qualifying. As the night progressed and temperatures dropped, the scarlet squad had their ground work laid out in terms of tyres, and it became easier to chase the the Red Bull cars. 
The key quality of the Singapore circuit however is that it guarantees a safety car period, a record for the past 10 years, and by statistics only a World Champion has won this race. With Verstappen and Ricciardo equally hungry for a win on a track that suits them chassis wise, whether Vettel manages to keep his first place is what will make this race exciting.
When it comes to the title both Singapore and the following race in Malaysia play to the Ferraris advantage, and all Vettel needs is one win to take back the title lead from Hamilton. For the German, it will be critically important that he finishes at the same position he started at, with his arch title rival four grid places away, and for his Finnish team-mate, it is going to be important to keep both those Mercedes at bay, to get the job done. 
Given the tricky scenario the Mercedes are in with their tyres, even their long-run pace or race pace hasn't been impressive on the ultra-soft tyres. The race tomorrow will play key in terms of who'll lead the title, and how the next seven races will unfold.