Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the qualifying session for tomorrow's Singapore Grand Prix.
The street race is one of the highlights on the calendar as it is the only race to take place under floodlit conditions, making it a GP like no other.
Pole position has proved crucial in the past in Singapore, with three of the four races being won by the polesitter.
Who will grab the front spot on the grid this afternoon? Find out below.
3.07pmThat's it from us for this afternoon. We'll be back at around 12.30pm tomorrow for our coverage of the race. See you then!
3.06pmSchumacher and Rosberg didn't even bother in the final session and will start in ninth and 10th respectively.
3.05pmNot sure why Vettel was so off the pace in that final session, we await answers.
3.03pmHere's the top 10 for tomorrow's race: 1 Hamilton 2 Maldonado 3 Vettel 4 Button 5 Alonso 6 Di Resta 7 Webber 8 Grosjean 9 Schumahcer 10 Rosberg
3.02pmIn the end the Brit didn't have to improve on his first run in Q3 and he's rightly congratulated on the team radio. Maldonado starts from a remarkable second!
3.01pmLEWIS HAMILTON IS ON POLE FOR THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX!
3.01pmButton provisional fourth.
3.01pmVettel provisional third!
3.00pmWebber provisional fifth.
3.00pmAlonso provisional third.
3.00pmMaldonado goes second.
2.59pmThey'll be coming over the line thick and fast in just a second!
2.58pmRosberg is out of his car and won't set a time then.
2.57pmAlonso has a brand new set of super-softs on. Can the world championship leader find some pace?
2.56pmHamilton, Button and Vettel are the only three who have set a time so far which means that all 10 drivers should go out for a single lap attempt. I'll do my best to keep you up to date!
2.54pmRosberg came in to the pit so didn't complete a time. Button sets 1:47.238 and is immediately beaten by Hamilton, who delivers a 1:46.392. Vettel can't find any pace and comes in at 1:47.694.
2.53pmBoth McLarens will also be crossing the line shortly.
2.52pmRosberg will be the first to set a time.
2.51pmJust 10 minutes for the drivers to put in their best lap and around this long circuit that means perhaps just one or two 'hot' laps.
2.50pmQ3 is underway! Who will snatch pole?
2.50pmI still think my original prediction of Vettel for pole will come good. The German is so, so strong under this kind of one-lap pressure.
2.49pmHamilton has been really impressive so far this afternoon and you could have got the McLaren man at about 3/1 before the off to grab pole! He's now even money.
2.47pmThese are the 10 who will fight it out for top spot: Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Grosjean, Alonso, Maldonado, Button, Di Resta, Schumacher, Rosberg.
2.45pmMassa and Raikkonen will be gutted not to have made it, while the likes of Di Resta and Maldonado will be delighted to be in the top 10.
2.44pmGreat end to that session and these are the seven who didn't make it to the final shootout: 11 Hulkenburg 12 Raikkonen 13 Massa 14 Perez 15 Ricciardo 16 Vergne 17 Senna
2.43pmSCHUMACHER IN!
2.43pmRAIKKONEN OUT
2.42pmMASSA OUT
2.42pmThere's going to be a mad dash to get into Q3, who will make it?
2.40pmThe Frenchman goes third-fastest with a 1:47.529, should be ok to make Q3.
2.39pmJust three minutes left of Q2 and Grosjean, who's yet to set a time, needs to show what he's made of.
2.36pmSchumacher (11th) is perhaps the biggest name set to miss out on Q3 at the moment although he'll go again in a second.
2.34pmWallop! Senna has just collided with the wall and he'll be out of the session as Hamilton goes faster 0.126 than Vettel! Looks like these two will be battling for pole in Q3.
2.33pmWow. The German posts a 1:46.791! The first man under 1:47 and well over a second clear of the nearest man.
2.32pmVettel's on a flyer...
2.31pmRaikkonen crosses the line in 1:48.261 as teammate Grosjean comes into contact with the barrier.
2.28pmRaikkonen is out straight away and he's on the super-soft tyres. The teams don't have many of the quicker compounds so he needs to make this happen early.
2.27pmQ2 is underway!
2.24pmAt the front and it was Grosjean who went fastest. Look out for the Lotus cars.
2.22pmThe Japanese driver is the man to join the six usual suspects of Caterham, HRT and Marussia. OUT: 18 Kobayashi 19 Petrov 20 Kovalainen 21 Glock 22 Pic 23 Karthikeyan 24 De La Rosa
2.21pmKobayashi out at Q1!
2.17pmOut of nowhere, the times are tumbling as Raikkonen, Vettel, Grosjean and Di Resta go fast after changing to the super-soft tyre compound, which is evidently much quicker.
2.15pmHere's an interesting stat from @OptaJim on Twitter: "34 - With the fastest time in qualifying today Sebastian Vettel could move up to third in all time pole positions. Prompt."
2.14pmAt the moment, Sauber's Kobayashi is the man from the bigger teams set to miss out on Q2.
2.13pmThe Englishman is joined by McLaren teammate Button in the top two before Vettel and Webber oust Button to go second and third. Vettel, who was expected to blitz it, came in 0.002 of a second slower than Hamilton!
2.12pmBOSH! Hamilton storms to the front with a 1:48.285! That's over a second quicker than Alonso.
2.11pmHamilton is quick in the first sector but he's made a mistake at the chicane so he'll have to go again as Alonso moves back to the top of the standings with a 1:49.391.
2.09pmFirst Maldonado and then Rosberg go fastest as we pass halfway in the session. 10 minutes of Q1 left.
2.07pmAnd now Hamilton shows us that it's hard work out there by locking up his front right. Alonso still the fastest man.
2.06pmAlonso now top of the tree with a 1:49.511. 1:48 laps are expected to be enough to progress to Q2.
2.05pmThere's plenty of spinning at the moment as Perez and Grosjean both struggle to stay on track.
2.04pmGrosjean sets the early pace with a 1:50.733.
2.03pmSome interesting news from the Marussia team, where Charles Pic has been given a 20-second penalty for the race and will have to perform one day's "community service" in the FIA Action for Road Safety campaign after he drove past four red lights earlier today.
2.01pmWeather-wise, we're set for a dry, uninterrupted session.
2.00pmQ1 is underway!
1.59pmThe drivers who are strapped in and ready are being sprayed with some sort of futuristic hoover. Gets very humid in Singapore, you see.
1.58pmVettel looks as cool as a cucumber in his garage while perhaps his biggest rival for pole, Hamilton, is already in his car ready to go.
1.57pmMoments away from the off then and the TV cameras are showing us some of Singapore's best sights. As well as a floodlit F1 track, there's also a floodlit golf course!
1.56pmThis is the longest race on the calendar and will get completed tomorrow in just under the two-hour maximum.
1.52pmAlonso's lead in the drivers' rankings is fairly sizeable at 37 points. The chasing pack are much tighter, with just 10 points separating the next four.
1.49pmI haven't yet mentioned the championship leader Fernando Alonso, who you can never rule out. His Ferrari doesn't look too quick around the streets of Singapore but if there's one man who could upset the odds, it's Fernando.
1.47pmIf I was placing a bet on this session then I'd have to back Vettel. You can get him at around 4/5 with the bookies.
1.43pmAside from Red Bull and McLaren, Lotus feel they have a great chance of pole. The team, who are often believed to have one of the quicker cars, has been consistently underperforming all year.
1.41pmVettel was 0.325 seconds quicker than Lewis Hamilton in final practice today, while the other two drivers for Red Bull and McLaren, Mark Webber and Jenson Button, failed to complete a lap because of a heavy crash that brought the session to a premature end.
1.38pmIn all honesty, there looks to be only one man in contention for pole today! Sebastian Vettel has been invincible in the opening three practice sessions, topping the timesheets twice yesterday and then again earlier today.
1.36pmNext, a 15-minute session where the next seven slowest cars are knocked out, leaving just 10 cars to fight it out for pole position in a 10-minute shootout.
1.34pmFirst up is a 20-minute session with all 24 drivers. The bottom seven drivers will be eliminated and start on the grid in their positions from Q1.
1.33pmJust in case you're new to F1 qualifying, here's how it works:
1.31pmAfternoon all! There's 30 minutes until qualifying begins.
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Pascal Lemesre
