Second pole position in a row for Alonso (Singapore Grand Prix qualifying)
Fernando Alonso will start from pole position for the second race in a row after pipping Sebastian Vettel in qualifying at Singapore.
The two McLarens will start from the second row of the grid with Lewis Hamilton ahead of Jenson Button.
Q1
The first qualifying session was interrupted when Felipe Massa suffered a car failure before he’d even set a lap. The red flags came out as the Ferrari was recovered.
That meant there was little prospect of anyone other than the three new cars being eliminated in Q1.
Sure enough, the session ended with Timo Glock fastest of those six cars, with Lucas di Grassi out-qualifying Jarno Trulli.
Christian Klien beat team mate Bruno Senna on his F1 return.
Q2
Vitaly Petrov’s qualifying ended when he crashed at turn five and broke his right-rear suspension.
He was running in the top ten at the time. But as he was unable to improve his time he was relegated into the drop zone.
The two Force India drivers were slowest in Q2, Vitantonio Liuzzi running across the chicane at one point.
Nico Hülkenberg was clearly frustrated after setting 12th fastest time. He already has a five-place penalty which will push him further down the grid tomorrow.
Jaime Alguersuari out-qualified team mate Sebastien Buemi to take 11th – and was just six-hundredths of a second away from reaching Q3.
Q3
Vettel looked on course for pole position as he set a dramatically quick time in the first sector of his lap. But he caught Michael Schumacher too soon and was only seventh after his first run.
Alonso headed the times after the first round of laps with a blistering run through the final sector of the lap. Hamilton was second behind him having lost time in the final sector when he caught his team mate.
Vettel found enough time on his second lap to split the pair of them with his last run, despite clipping a barrier in the second sector.
While Hamilton couldn’t improve with his last run Button moved up to fourth, relegating Mark Webber to fifth place and last of the five title contenders.
Full qualifying times
| Pos. | # | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’46.541 | 1’45.809 | 1’45.390 |
| 2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’46.960 | 1’45.561 | 1’45.457 |
| 3 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’48.296 | 1’46.042 | 1’45.571 |
| 4 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’48.032 | 1’46.490 | 1’45.944 |
| 5 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’47.088 | 1’45.908 | 1’45.977 |
| 6 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’48.183 | 1’47.019 | 1’46.236 |
| 7 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’48.554 | 1’46.783 | 1’46.443 |
| 8 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’47.657 | 1’46.949 | 1’46.593 |
| 9 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’48.425 | 1’47.160 | 1’46.702 |
| 10 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’48.908 | 1’47.599 | 1’47.884 |
| 11 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’48.127 | 1’47.666 | |
| 12 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’48.906 | 1’48.165 | |
| 13 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’49.063 | 1’48.502 | |
| 14 | 22 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’48.696 | 1’48.557 | |
| 15 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’48.496 | 1’48.899 | |
| 16 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’48.988 | 1’48.961 | |
| 17 | 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1’47.984 | 1’47.674 | |
| 18 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’50.721 | ||
| 19 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’50.915 | ||
| 20 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’51.107 | ||
| 21 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’51.641 | ||
| 22 | 20 | Christian Klien | HRT-Cosworth | 1’52.946 | ||
| 23 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1’54.174 | ||
| 24 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari |
2010 Singapore Grand Prix
- Technical review: Singapore Grand Prix
- Webber: Ferrari have momentum (Video)
- Final tracks suit McLaren better – Button
- No change in my approach – Hamilton
- Williams expect to keep up with Renault
- 2010 Singapore Grand Prix – the complete F1 Fanatic race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend? (Poll)
- Fourth win of 2010 is Alonso’s best yet (Ferrari race review)
- Poor pace and another Hamilton DNF hits title hopes (McLaren race review)
- Webber has champion’s luck but lacks Vettel’s pace (Red Bull race review)
Image © Singapore GP
Steph (@) said on 25th September 2010, 16:28
First and last…didn’t expect that!
Hopefully Massa, Hulk and Petrov will provide some fun tomorrow.
Alonso now the first person to have multiple poles this season that isn’t a RBR
nik (@nik) said on 25th September 2010, 17:00
First and last happen a few times last year :)
steph said on 25th September 2010, 21:06
Never in qualifying last year though :P And when it did happen in the arce I could console myself with the fact that neither were my favourites either :P
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley) said on 26th September 2010, 10:03
Arrrrgh! There are too many Stephs on here! :P
FerrariBoy said on 25th September 2010, 16:29
It’s a pole for Ferrari yet again!!!
FORZA FERRARI!!! :)
Keamo said on 25th September 2010, 16:33
I thought Vettel had this one in the bag! But then i should know better by now. There might be fireworks in the start with Lewis right there. What happened to Mark Webber?? Not complaining though, Lewis is ahead!
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders) said on 25th September 2010, 16:35
Best dry qualifying of the season? I think so
Sush Meerkat said on 25th September 2010, 16:45
I fell asleep, didn’t enjoy it.
Also I think keith forgot to close a HTML tag up, cos it looks like we’re all angry! rar! bolded writing!
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders) said on 25th September 2010, 19:16
Funnily enough I nearly fell asleep myself at one point! But that was because I was really tired, not because of anything on the track
Anthony said on 25th September 2010, 16:54
I think canada was more thrilling, it was last minute efforts!
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 26th September 2010, 4:31
I woke up in 4 am just to see the qualifying as Star Sports didn’t telecast it live, & my fellow F1 fans fell asleep
PT said on 26th September 2010, 10:05
wasiF1,
That was extremely rude of Star Sports to do. They do this once or twice every year. Yesterday, they were showing the same Champions League(or whatever)cricket match on Star Cricket and Star Sports at that time – ARROGANCE or what?
Keith,
This is one annoying problem F1 fans in the Indian subcontinent (India, Bangladesh, etc.) face. ESPNStar proudly advertises itself as the only channel in the region to broadcast all F1 races and qualifying sessions, but they aren’t living up to it.
They aren’t bothered, because clearly F1 fans in the subcontinent are much less in number when compared to cricket or football fans. Okay, understood. But why telecast the same match live on both of its channels when another great sporting event they are contracted to show is taking place?
ESPNStar is arrogant that its sole F1 telecast licence can’t be taken by anyone else in the region. What they did yesterday was ABSOLUTE INJUSTICE.
Vivek Sundar said on 26th September 2010, 10:34
Very correct keith. Thanks for the tweet
pSynrg said on 25th September 2010, 16:37
What a fantastic quali. Just edge of the seat tension throughout.
Stunning laps from the top 3 – Vettel could and should have been quicker.
rampante (@rampante) said on 25th September 2010, 16:37
What a drive from Alonso. Quality always rises to to top
Scribe (@scribe) said on 25th September 2010, 18:07
Damn straight, the man was monstrous today, Great drive to take advantage of Redbulls mistakes, reckon Vettle could be third by the first corner.
Apostolos said on 25th September 2010, 21:07
Also could end up in fourth place.
Squirrel said on 25th September 2010, 16:38
Massa never fails in making you feel bad for him, and always justifiably so.
bosyber said on 25th September 2010, 17:04
Sad but true Squirrel.
Ady said on 25th September 2010, 16:41
Should be a good start to the race tomorrow. It might be likely that Vettel and Hamilton will touch in the first corner.
Safety cars could also thow up some interesting opportunities, especially if later in the race.
I expect Alonso should quite easily walk away with this one, he has always been good here.
BBQ2 said on 25th September 2010, 16:53
Hamilton will have nothing to do with Vettel tomorrow as his sight will be on Alonso. Remember that (even) Button overtook Alonso at Monza from 3rd. But this time around he is having to deal with his worst nightmare who is Hamilton and he will be very nervous at the start.
Epic race tomorrow I suppose ….. bring it on!! :-)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 25th September 2010, 16:54
Button was second on the grid at Monza.
BBQ2 said on 25th September 2010, 17:12
oh! Well, thanks Keith …… I guess I have to bury my head in shame now…. :-(
nik (@nik) said on 25th September 2010, 17:01
“he has always been good here.”
*cough*..
bosyber said on 25th September 2010, 17:05
I would say always been fast, maybe, to avoid misunderstandings :-p
emil said on 25th September 2010, 18:44
hmm …if someone fix this one again than will win for sure..but Massa is not Piquet :))
Charlie Watts said on 25th September 2010, 16:41
Bodes well for the rest of the season seeing as this was supposed to be a RBR track. Although they probably still have the quicker car it’s great to see it closer than Hungary.
GQsm said on 25th September 2010, 19:14
very much agreed
Bartholomew said on 25th September 2010, 16:42
That was a great ride from Alonso. Second consecutive pole on two very different tracks.
They are saying that Santander just bought the most important Polish bank, so that might mean Kubica in Ferrari soon ?
BBQ2 said on 25th September 2010, 16:58
You are right Bart, Santander bought the third largest bank in Poland a few months ago.
That could explain the push for Kub by the red car brigade :-(
verstappen said on 25th September 2010, 18:51
Well, they’ve also got Santander Brasil. And Brasil has 5 times more inhabitants then Poland.
However, maybe Massa is now perceived as ‘loser’ – mind you not by me – and Kubica more as a winner. That could be a reason from a marketing point of view to push for Kubica.
Staffan said on 25th September 2010, 22:11
Still, Massa has more points than kubica.
Go Massa!
Flying Finn said on 25th September 2010, 16:44
Great job by Alonso.Bad luck for massa though!!!.So this shows that RBR ain’t invincible like befor anymore.
rfs said on 25th September 2010, 16:47
Besides his poor performance in Spa, Alonso has really come on strong in this second half of the season. Good job.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65) said on 25th September 2010, 16:47
that was a dissapointing night for RBR!
Icthyes (@icthyes) said on 25th September 2010, 16:51
Pole lap of a champion from Fernando but he’ll be silently relieved Vettel couldn’t get his top lap together. He’ll have to watch out for McLaren’s race pace too and with a Safety Car who knows what could happen (and it would be poetic justice ;))
Baron said on 25th September 2010, 16:51
Ferrari bookends. That’s one for the Christmas list.. :)
David BR said on 25th September 2010, 17:11
Which sets me wondering how, exactly, Ferrari will try to use Massa to assist Alonso in the race. They presumably have to think of something, since it’s Massa’s only point of existence now, apparently, but what…?
sumedh said on 25th September 2010, 17:44
They will use Massa to slow down Alonso’s rivals when they come to lap Massa.
emil said on 25th September 2010, 18:48
:)) you maybe right ….but i think Alonso will call old pall Flavio for assistant of this matter Briatore is master of fixing …..
BBT said on 25th September 2010, 19:07
If they did that I think they would effectively be kissing good bye to the WCC, they need Massa in the points
David BR said on 25th September 2010, 19:26
sumedh, precisely, which would even mean holding him back, maybe, though he was stuck at the back in 2008 and didn’t make much headway so then again maybe not.
schooner said on 25th September 2010, 19:26
If they get his car operating properly, nobody should be lapping Massa.
Bartholomew said on 25th September 2010, 20:46
When you hear over the radio “gimme a double pepperoni”, then Massa will run his car into the wall to the advantage of Alonso
David A said on 25th September 2010, 21:43
But Alonso won’t need that from first place?
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 26th September 2010, 4:34
Alonso is exposed to 4 more hungry Hyenas one of whom is Hamilton who will definitely wants to tear Alonso apart can’t wait for the action.