Briton beat title rival Rosberg to head of the grid by 0.007 seconds; Sixth pole position of the season for Lewis; "Damn it!" responds Nico
Sunday 21 September 2014 09:06, UK
Singapore polesitter Lewis Hamilton has admitted he thought his chances of setting the pace in qualifying had gone when he locked up his tyres at the start of his final lap in the gripping night-time session.
For one of the first times in dry conditions this season it had looked as though runaway championship leaders Mercedes, polesitters at all but one race this year, might be outpaced over a single lap as Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams took the fight to the hitherto all-conquering Silver Arrows’ in a thrilling Q3.
Indeed, both Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg were outside the top five after the first runs in the final shootout such was the competitive pace Mercedes’ rivals were suddenly showing on the supersoft tyres around the street track.
Hamilton then appeared to shoot himself in the foot on his final effort when he locked his brake in a cloud of smoke into Turn One. However, despite Rosberg going faster to take provisional pole ahead of him, the Briton pressed on and crossed the line a mere 0.007 seconds faster than his title rival - a result which prompted a shout of "damn it!" by the championship leader over the radio in the sister car.
Hamilton, aiming to make further inroads into his team-mate's 22-point title lead on Sunday, said he resisted the tendancy to overdrive after his error and was delighted to see his laptime come together from the second sector onwards.
"It has been a good day, the last two days have been good, but clearly very, very close. I didn’t really know what to expect – especially after Q1 when Ferrari were ahead all of a sudden. I was like ‘where they get that time?’ because my lap was pretty good," Hamilton recounted to Sky Sports F1.
"I hadn’t locked up in Turn One, I don’t think, all weekend so far and then it was just that little catch into Turn One and I thought 'that was it' because I was down by just over two tenths.
"Normally when that happens already by Turn Two you’re not going to improve. But I just kept going and it started to get better. Often you start to overdrive then to regain that two tenths but I somehow didn’t and put it back together, so I’m really, really excited about that."
"It was one of the most exciting sessions I’ve had for a long time."
After the setting the pace on Friday, Hamilton remarked that pole position in Singapore was "very, very important" given the right-hand side of the grid habitually offers significantly better getaways from the grid.
With that milestone now achieved, for the third time in his career at Marina Bay, the title chaser is focused on avoiding a repeat of his difficult start from pole at the last race at Monza given the challenges that await the drivers across the demanding 61-lap race.
"It’s very hard here starting anywhere but pole – it’s very hard to follow and very, very hard to overtake," Hamilton, winner from pole at Marina Bay in 2009, explained.
"With the tyre degradation as well, that tops it off and makes it even harder. So I’ve really got to put a lot of focus on [the start], hope that everything works off the start tomorrow and there’s potentially going to be a lot of pitstops, so perfection’s going to be crucial tomorrow.
"Pit entries, pitstops, consistencies with the team and all those kind of things. So it’s going to be fun."
Hamilton’s last-gasp surge of speed proved especially frustrating for Rosberg, whose exclamation on his slowing-down lap underlined how tight the all-Mercedes title duel remains.
Asked about his reaction, the championship leader replied: “Yeah, because seven thousandths, when I think back at the lap, it is nothing you know? A little bit here or there, I was like ‘come on!’ I could have done it!
“But, okay, that’s the way it is. Lewis did a good job to get pole so fair play. Second place is okay, obviously first would be better, but it’s a long race ahead and it’s fine.”
Following a change of brake material on both W05s ahead of Q1, Rosberg’s session had begun in inauspicious fashion when he outbraked himself on his first timed lap. The German, who was only sixth in Q1 and then had to complete a second run in Q2 to ensure his progression to the final phase admitted it took him time to feel settled in the session.
“We changed brakes going into qualifying and I got into rhythm with the other brakes, so that was a challenge,” he said.
“We expected it to be, but it always is a bit of a challenge. So it took me a bit of time to get into qualifying and then the balance was very different because the track had called down relative to the session before qualifying.
"So I had to completely adapt the settings and it took me some time to get into the qualifying. So that’s why I’m pleased in the end I was able to push flat out and put in a good laptime.”
Barring poor starts or mechanical interruptions for either Mercedes man, Sunday’s race is likely to require the “perfection” Hamilton is targeting.
The 2014 Singapore GP is live only on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Our race-day coverage begins at 11.30am on Sunday with lights out at Marina Bay at 1pm.
