Hamilton earns pole position in Singapore

SINGAPORE — Lewis Hamilton maintained McLaren's recent dominance by claiming pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, and said on Saturday the season was mapping out perfectly for a Formula One championship challenge.

Hamilton gave McLaren a fourth consecutive pole for the first time since 1999, and his chances of also making it four straight wins in Sunday's race were boosted by Williams' Pastor Maldonado snatching a surprise second place in qualifying, providing a buffer to the Briton's title rivals.

"We have put ourselves in the best position, so we need to capitalize on that," Hamilton said. "We've done the work we need to do to put us in a strong position for tomorrow — the key will just be to stay out of trouble and look after the tires.

"I've always believed that if we could start the season strongly, we'd be able to pull ahead. We've been there or thereabouts all season, but now we're starting to see the real strength of my team pull through."

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel qualified a disappointing third after being the fastest in all three practice sessions. He was surprised he couldn't manage at least a front-row spot.

"It's hard to say what happened. A little disappointed, especially Q3," Vettel said. "It's a shame it didn't come together at the end."

Maldonado provided the shock of the night by taking second. Aside from his surprise win at the Spanish Grand Prix, the Venezuelan has been in the points only one other time this season.

He was even more enthused about the chances for a shock victory by the fact that the car performed well during the long-stint, heavy-fuel race settings.

"I'm really looking forward to the race because yesterday we showed very good pace, very consistent. So I think it is going to be a good one for us this time," he said.

Jenson Button of McLaren qualified fourth, ahead of Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who holds a 37-point lead over Hamilton in the championship standings with seven races to go.

"We were not quick enough in free practice, and not quick enough in qualifying," Alonso said. "The McLarens were unbeatable, at least for pole.

"Starting fifth, on the inside, we have a good position to fight for the podium, which is maybe the maximum for the weekend."

Force India's Paul di Resta equaled a career best by qualifying sixth, one place ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber, who was cleared by stewards after complaints by Marussia's Timo Glock that the Australian caused interference in the first qualifying session.

Lotus' Romain Grosjean will start from eighth, recovering from heavy contact with a wall earlier in the qualifying session. The Frenchman again beat teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who was down in 12th, dealing a blow to his championship challenge.

Mercedes pair Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg finished ninth and 10th, having failed to set times in Q3. Instead they only did formation laps on harder tires, meaning they will start on that rubber in the race, giving them different strategies to the cars ahead.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari qualified 13th, a place ahead of Sauber's Sergio Perez, who finished second in the previous race but whose car had been off the pace throughout practice.

At the tail end of the grid, Charles Pic of Marussia was to have 20 seconds added to his race finishing time as punishment for ignoring red flags during practice.

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Vettel impresses in Singapore practice

SINGAPORE — Red Bull signaled it was ready to resume its fight for the Formula One title with a strong performance in Friday's practice for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets in both sessions, while teammate Mark Webber was fourth in the second practice. Neither driver had finished their previous race, the Italian Grand Prix, on Sept. 9.

"Overall we can be happy with today, but let's see what we do tomorrow, it's still Friday and today's results are not so conclusive as some drivers got stuck in traffic," Vettel said. "Most important is that the car seemed to work on either tire, so we go from there."

McLaren's Jenson Button was second fastest ahead of championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, with the presence of three different teams in the top three places indicating a close fight in Sunday's race.

"I would say today was positive, even if the first impression is that we are not as competitive as we were in Monza, two weeks ago," Alonso said. "We still lack a bit of performance on tracks like this one, where you need maximum aerodynamic downforce."

Button's teammate Lewis Hamilton was fifth, seven-tenths of a second off Vettel's time.

The other title contender, Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, was down in 12th — a full two seconds behind Vettel — after missing the closing stages of the second session with hydraulic problems.

"Usually we improve on Saturday time-wise but we are not suddenly going to catch up two seconds to the front," Raikkonen said. "I am sure they will improve also, and it shows that we are not as fast as we should be."

Michael Schumacher of Mercedes also sat out the final minutes due to brake problems.

While there were no major incidents on Friday, plenty of drivers ran wide and flirted with the tight concrete walls as they tested the limits of the street circuit and came to grips with a slippery, dusty surface.

Williams driver Bruno Senna clipped the wall heavily and stalled his car, bringing out the red flags midway through session two, and ending his night.

Vettel won this race last season, but his dominance of 2011 is now a distant memory, having won only one race in this campaign. Friday's performance should provide a timely boost for him and the team — particularly as there were no signs of the alternator failure which had plagued Red Bull in Italy.

Most teams were running very different settings in Singapore than in Italy, switching from the high speeds of Monza to the twists and turns of Marina Bay.

The biggest change was made by Mercedes, which had a new exhaust system that directed air to the rear wing and rear diffuser to improve traction. Friday's performance, with Schumacher 11th and Nico Rosberg in eighth, showed the team had more work to do to integrate it to the chassis.

SINGAPORE — The contract negotiations between Formula One team McLaren and Lewis Hamilton won't dampen the English driver's quest to win the title, according to team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

There's been speculation that Hamilton may switch to Mercedes next season, and his future remains in limbo while he pushes for a more lucrative McLaren offer.

"I am sure he will want more money and I am sure we will want to pay less — that is how the business normally works," Whitmarsh said Friday.

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