Race: Singapore Grand Prix
Date: 18 September, Sunday
Time: 1pm BST/5:30pm IST/8pm SGT
Venue: Marina Bay Street Circuit
TV Channel: Fox Sports will provide live TV coverage in Singapore
Live Updates: The race updates will be available on the official site of Formula One
Overview
Nico Rosberg took pole position for the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix after coming up with a dominant performance in the qualifying on Saturday.
The Mercedes driver edged past second-placed Daniel Ricciardo with a best lap of 1:42.584s, which was half a second faster than the Red Bull racer. Rosberg set the pace from the practise races on Friday and looks primed to overtake teammate Lewis Hamilton in the championship race.
Rosberg will be helped by the fact that the overtaking opportunities at the second night race of the season on 18 September will be minimum. The 31-year-old, who is fresh from Italian Grand Prix success, is gunning for his eighth title of the 2016 season. He trails leader Hamilton by two points at 248 ahead of Sunday's showdown.
Ricciardo will start the race from the front row of the grid along with Rosberg after the Australian piped Hamilton in the qualifying with a time of 1:43.115s. The championship leader had a tough time in Singapore in the practise races, in which he completed the final session at the seventh position after retiring earlier due to mechanical problems.
"Definitely happy with that one for my 200th Grand Prix. For sure one of my top three laps ever, so happy with that. It really went well," Rosberg spoke of his pole position, as quoted by Formula One official website.
"At times it wasn't clear in qualifying how we were going to stack up against Red Bull, so I knew I had to give it everything and really pull one out of the bag, which was cool. Great feeling."
Mercedes will have stiff competition from Red Bull racers Ricciardo and Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, who will start Sunday's race alongside Hamilton in the second row.
With only seven more races to go in the ongoing season, Kimi Raikkonen will lead Ferrari's challenge in Singapore as the Italian team is involved in a close battle with Red Bull for the second spot in the constructor standings. The Finn finished fifth on Saturday with a best lap of 1:43.540s.
Defending Singapore champion Sebastian Vettel, who has the most number of wins at the Marina Bay, settled for a start from the back of the grid after encountering problems with anti-roll bar.
The Ferrari racer lashed out at his team, which failed to fix the issue in time for the driver to set a fast lap. "That was stupid. We're losing time," Vettel said after finishing the slowest of the 22 drivers in Saturday's qualifying.
Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz took the sixth position while his teammate Daniil Kvyat finished seventh. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez settled for the eighth and 10th positions while McLaren's Fernando Alonso separated the two with a timing of 1:44.553s.
Rosberg had said the title race was on with Hamilton after his Monaco win. A maiden title in Singapore would give the former the edge and heat up the battle for the rest of the season.
Qualifying results from Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2016 at Marina Bay
Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes - 1:42.584s
Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull - 1:43.115s
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes - 1:43.288s
Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull - 1:43.328s
Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari - 1:43.540s
Carlos Sainz (Esp) Toro Rosso - 1:44.197s
Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Toro Rosso - 1:44.469s
Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India - 1:44.479s
Fernando Alonso (Esp) Mclaren - 1:44.553s
Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India - 1:44.582s
