Sebastian Vettel raced to pole for Singapore Grand Prix 2017 by setting the pace in the qualifying on Saturday, September 16.
The Ferrari driver came up with the fastest timing of 1:39.491s in Q3 after being below-par in Q1 and Q2 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Vettel, a four-time champion in Singapore, himself could not believe the way he had come back after being ordinary in the practice and the early part of the qualifying sessions. In Q1, he only managed the fifth fastest timing of 1:43.336s, which was more than a second slower than Max Verstappen, who was the pace-setter in Q1 and Q2.
However, in Q3, Vettel came up with a stunning show, managing a timing of 1:38.491s, which was almost half a second faster than Verstappen, who finished behind the German with a timing of 1:39.814.
Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo will start the race from the second row of the grid along with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
On the other hand, driver standings leader Lewis Hamilton could only manage a fifth place finish on Saturday. The Brit, who leads Vettel by three points in driver standings, is likely to concede the championship lead to the latter, who has 235 points.
"We knew today [Saturday] would be tough but I didn't anticipate Ferrari would be as strong as they were. We remain hopeful. I got everything I could out of the car. I gave it everything. I threw the sink at it and squeezed every bit of it," Hamilton said after struggling to match the Ferraris and the Red Bulls on the tight and twisty track.
The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will have a lot of work to do if they are to finish on the podium as overtaking has always proved to be difficult at Marina Bay.
On the the other hand, the Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Ricciardo will fancy their chances to impress on Sunday. The former has been in fine form over the weekend and is expected to put pressure on Vettel.
"The whole weekend was good progression. To be second here on this track is very promising," said the 19-year-old Belgian.
When does the race start and how to watch it live
The famous night race in Singapore will start at 8pm local time, 5:30pm IST, 12pm GMT.
Live streaming and TV listings
India: TV: Star Sports Select HD2. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports F1. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: NBCSN. Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live.
South East Asia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Fox Sports Play.
Australia: TV: Ten HD. Live Streaming: Ten Play.
