German on pole by over half a second from Daniel Ricciardo; Lewis Hamilton only fifth and Nico Rosberg sixth; First non-Mercedes powered pole since 2013
Tuesday 22 September 2015 09:17, UK
Sebastian Vettel ended Mercedes' qualifying dominance as the Ferrari driver took pole position in Singapore by over half a second.
The German was untouchable throughout the session and even able to save his tyres by not running a second time in Q1 and Q2 - something that could be crucial during Sunday's race.
World championship leader Lewis Hamilton was only fifth quickest, a massive 1.5 seconds off the pace as Mercedes' 2015 performance went missing.
Vettel's pole was Ferrari's first in dry conditions since the 2010 Singapore GP and brings to an end a run of 31 consecutive pole positions for Mercedes-powered cars that dated back to Brazil 2013.
"It's a surprise. I thought they were sandbagging because there's no doubt they have the strongest package this year. They must have some issues," Vettel said.
"But I wouldn't rule them out for tomorrow. It's not the easiest circuit to overtake, but if you have the pace you can come through. So I expect them to be strong tomorrow."
Alongside Vettel on Sunday will be Daniel Ricciardo as the Australian registered Red Bull's best result of the year so far. The Australian also saved a set of supersoft tyres for Sunday after running twice on softs in Q1.
The one positive for Hamilton is that he is ahead of Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg - although the German will start alongside Hamilton on the third row.
Asked to explain where Mercedes' pace had gone, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "Tyres! I don't know what we've got wrong, but a big congratulations to the guys up ahead.
"To be honest it was exciting, that is the first time we've gone into qualifying with that kind of trying to pull more out of the car and sometimes making mistakes. But the tyres for some reason aren't working on our car, it is weird."
Between the Mercedes cars and the front-row are the second Ferrari and Red Bull cars, with Kimi Raikkonen third and Daniil Kvyat fourth.
Like the works team, Williams couldn't make use of their Mercedes power either, with Valtteri Bottas seven quickest and Felipe Massa ninth.
The Williams pair sandwiched the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen, who could have challenged the Mercedes drivers had he not made a mistake at the final corner. Romain Grosjean rounded off the top ten.
McLaren had an outside chance of their first Q3 appearance of the year, but a yellow flag in the final moments of Q2 prevented Jenson Button or Fernando Alonso challenging for a top 10 spot.
Button was almost a Q1 casualty, sneaking through by a fraction of a second with his final lap and finishing the session 15th.
The yellow flag was caused by Carlos Sainz who pushed too hard through the exit of Turn 19 as he tried to join team-mate Verstappen in Q3 and a little glance with the barrier broke the left-rear suspension of his Toro Rosso.
The Spaniard limped back to the pits, but debris was left on the track preventing anyone from improving.
Both Force India drivers completed the drop-outs in Q2 after a disappointing session for Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.
Sauber brought their first major upgrade of the session to Singapore, but it didn't pay dividends as both Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson went out in the first part of qualifying.
They were ahead of Pastor Maldonado, however, who was once again a long way behind team-mate Grosjean. The Venezuelan's F1 future is still in doubt and the performance won't have endeared him to Lotus, or indeed the team's potential new owners.
Bringing up the rear were the two Manors, with Will Stevens half a second ahead of debutant Alexander Rossi.
Singapore GP Qualifying
Q3
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:43.885
2. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:44.428
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:44.667
4. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:44.745
5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:45.300
6. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:45.415
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:45.676
8. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:45.798
9. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:46.077
10. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:46.413
Q2
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:46.305
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:46.328
13. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:46.385
14. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:46.894
15. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:47.019
Q1
16. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:46.965
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:47.088
18. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:47.323
19. Will Stevens, Manor, 1:51.021
20. Alexander Rossi, Manor, 1:51.525
