Formula One news
Hamilton on pole in Singapore
26 September 2009 / Results / PhotosWorld Champion Lewis Hamilton was handed pole position early as a crash for Rubens Barrichello brought out the red flags with twenty-six seconds still remaining on the clock in Singapore. The McLaren will be joined at the front by Sebastian Vettel as the championship-contending Brawns qualify tenth and twelfth.
With the lead-up to this year's night race in Marina Bay having been dominated by the deliberate crash of Nelson Piquet Jr. in last year's event, it seemed ironic that an accident should bring a premature end to 2009's qualifying session. With temperatures of 30°C (86°F) for both air and track surface, the hour-long session began at 10pm.
There were some surprise casualties in the 20-minute Q1 on Saturday evening; Force India's fantastic run of form from Belgium and Italy faded as Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi start from 16th and 20th positions. Jaime Alguersuari and Romain Grosjean have each endured tough weekends so far although the two sandwich 18th placed Giancarlo Fisichella on the starting grid as the Italian continues to struggle with the Ferrari F60.
All drivers have been hampered this weekend as a fine layer of construction dust on the track has resulted in a large drop in overall grip levels. Q2, however, would bring more intrigue than the first phase of the hour as two favoured contenders for pole were eliminated and dropped out of the running.
Jarno Trulli's evening was a quiet and disappointing one as the Pescara driver circulated to an eventual 15th place on the timesheets, behind the Toro Rosso of Sébastien Buemi as the 2009 new boy once again excelled himself for the Faenza-based team. Kazuki Nakajima is also well-positioned and was the first driver to be knocked out in Q2, in 11th spot for Sunday.
Having aimed for pole, things could hardly have been worse for championship leader Jenson Button as setup changes from Friday continued to backfire for the Englishman; he starts the race from 12th on one of Formula One's tightest tracks. 2007 Champion Kimi Räikkönen was also out early and only 13th for Ferrari.
The final session saw drama levels rise as the final three minutes began; with all cars having returned to the pits for fresh rubber, Lewis Hamilton had already posted what turned out to be the eventual pole time of 1:47.891. The session was brought to an early close as Rubens Barrichello, who takes a 5-place grid drop for a gearbox change, crashed after sliding into the Turn 5 barriers to pick up damage to both the left-rear and front sides of his Brawn.
Hamilton dived into the pits to avoid starting his final flying lap - with the knowledge that pole was already his - in order to conserve fuel and gain a more flexible race strategy. Sebastian Vettel starts alongside with Nico Rosberg's Williams jumping up to third, ahead of the second Red Bull of Mark Webber. 2008 winner Fernando Alonso will set off from fifth ahead of Timo Glock and the two BMWs.
The 2009 Singapore Grand Prix can be followed live on GPUpdate.net and starts at 8pm local time on Sunday (BST +7 / GMT +8).
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