(CMC) – REIGNING World champion and championship leader Lewis Hamilton was left with all to do in today’s Singapore Grand Prix after finishing fifth in final qualifying here yesterday.
The 30-year-old struggled to make a significant impression and could only watch as Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel stormed to his first pole of the season.
Vettel snatched the marquee position on the front row while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second and the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, third.
Though admitting it was now a huge task to win at Marina Bay Circuit, Hamilton said he was up for the challenge.
“The goal’s to still win the race but it’s very hard to overtake here and the others, particularly the Red Bulls, were incredibly quick through the long runs,” said the Brit, whose paternal grandparents hail from Grenada.
“It is what it is. We’ll fight as hard as we can but I doubt we’ll find something between now and tomorrow. But if we do, great.”
With Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg sixth, it meant the first time this season Mercedes had now sewn up a spot on front row.
The finish also left Hamilton with not much of a chance of extending his lead at the top of the Formula One drivers’ championship. He has 252 wins, 53 clear of Rosberg but Vettel, who lies third on 178, can blow the title race wide open if he converts pole into a chequered flag.
Hamilton, who has won seven times this season, said it had been difficult to compete with the Ferrari’s pace for the entire qualifying.
“It is what it is today. I enjoyed it out there but we just didn’t have the pace,” he noted. “We weren’t surprised with the pace of the Ferrari as it was like that the whole weekend.”