During the final practice of Singapore Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso proved to be the fastest driver followed by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo while the Mercedes drivers’ Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were third and sixth fastest respectively. Lewis Hamilton, who had been fastest of all on the opening day of practice, ended up further down the order behind Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Overall, some drivers had improved by as much as 2.5s in the third practice session.
With a perfect piece of brinkmanship, Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position by less than a tenth of a second from Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg after a nail-biting qualifying session for the Singapore Grand Prix. This was his sixth pole of the season as well as 37th of his career. “Damn it!” swore Rosberg over his radio upon being told that he had been beaten to the final punch by the second Mercedes. “If I think back over the lap, seven thousandths of a second is nothing – a little bit here or there and I could have done it. But Lewis did a good job today. Fair play to him. Second place, it is OK. Sure first is better but it’s a long race ahead, so that’s fine”.
They say in Formula 1 that every second counts; here it was a conclusive proof that every millisecond matters too. Lewis Hamilton provided yet more evidence that precision timing is vital for success in Formula 1. Mercedes later tweeted such a fraction of time equates to just 33.7 centimeters, or 13.2 inches.
“That was one of the most exciting qualifying sessions I’ve had for a long time,” thundered a triumphant Hamilton afterwards. “As a driver through the weekend, you plan to have your last lap as your fastest lap because that’s when the track is at its best”.
Daniel Ricciardo, third in the championship but 72 points behind Rosberg, finished just 0.73 
secs behind the German, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel fourth as he chases a fourth successive win at this circuit. Ricciardo is at least in the best position to take advantage of any Mercedes slip-ups. “We are pleasantly surprised with the result and how close it was. They were a fair way in front yesterday but today it was only two tenths, hopefully I can keep it up tomorrow and get a better view from the podium, says Daniel Ricciardo.”
Although Mercedes has the front row locked up, they should face pressure from behind, with Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel third and fourth, with Alonso fifth, Raikkonen seventh, and Williams pair Massa and Valtteri Bottas sixth and eighth. This two-hour marathon on Sunday will thus be one of the most grueling events of the season.
