---
title: "Rosberg claims convincing pole at the Singapore GP"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/09/17/rosberg-convincing-pole-singapore-gp/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Ben Issatt"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2016-09-17T14:30:25Z"
modified: "2016-09-17T14:41:58Z"
---

# Rosberg claims convincing pole at the Singapore GP

Nico Rosberg stormed to an easy pole position for Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver posted a 1:42.584 on his first run in the final part of qualifying, a time no-one could get to within half a second.

Daniel Ricciardo produced the fastest final sector to claim second for Red Bull beating Lewis Hamilton, who made errors on his final run but just held off Max Verstappen as the pair were third and fourth.

Kimi Raikkonen had to settle for fifth for Ferrari but his teammate Sebastian Vettel will start from the back of the grid after a mechanical issue left the German unable to set a competitive time.

Toro Rosso won the battle to be ‘best of the rest’ as Carlos Sainz led his teammate Daniil Kvyat, beating the two Force India’s of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, who have Fernando Alonso’s McLaren in between them.

![Clive Mason/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/09/607233306.jpg)

As mentioned, the big story early in the session was Sebastian Vettel’s horrific weekend continuing for Ferrari. After struggling to find a good setup in practice, the German had a major suspension issue which meant his front wheels lifted in the air under braking and under load.

With no time to fix it and unable to set a fast enough time, he pulled into the garage and will start at the very back.

There were no more surprises in the drivers knocked out in the first segment with the two Renault’s, two Manor’s and Felipe Nasr at the back.

Kevin Magnussen will start 17th, ahead of Nasr, with Jolyon Palmer lining up behind his teammate on the grid. Pascal Wehrlein also continued to have the edge over birthday boy Esteban Ocon in the battle of the two Manor’s.

At this point in the session, it was Ricciardo leading from Verstappen and Raikkonen with the two Mercedes’ fourth and fifth.

Q2 was all about which compound the top teams would opt to start the race on. Red Bull went differently to Mercedes and Raikkonen by using the red-marked supersoft as the others stayed with the ultrasoft.

Mercedes released a lot of pace as Rosberg posted a 1:43.0, a full second faster than the fastest practice set this weekend.

The battle for the final five places, thanks to Vettel’s absence, in the top 10, was between McLaren, Williams, Force India and Toro Rosso.

Fernando Alonso was able to jump into Q3 as was Perez but the rest would be hampered by a crash for Romain Grosjean at Turn 10 which brought out the yellow flags.

![Clive Mason/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/09/607021930.jpg)

Jenson Button also touched the wall at Turn 13 breaking the steering rod in his McLaren, forcing him to stop out on track.

The yellow flags cost Williams as both Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa just missed out in 11th and 12th respectively. Button was in 13th with the two Haas’ 14th and 15th. Marcus Ericsson benefitted from Vettel’s early exit and will start 16th in the Sauber.

![Lars Baron/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/09/607019848.jpg)

Back to the front for a final thought and the question is can anyone beat Nico Rosberg? Red Bull seem to have played to their strengths opting away from using the ultrasoft rubber and despite his problems in practice, can Lewis Hamilton mount a challenge?

We’ll have to wait for a long two-hour slog around the streets of Marina Bay before those questions can be answered.

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