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SINGAPORE - Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix Saturday as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello suffered setbacks to their championship hopes.
It was a crucial drive by the Briton with front row of the grid likely to be decisive on the bumpy Marina Bay street circuit where overtaking will be possible, but difficult.
His lap of 1:47.891 was enough to beat Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel into second place with Nico Rosberg in the Williams and the other Red Bull of Mark Webber on the next row.
But there was disappointment for championship leader Button who failed to get his Brawn into the top 10, starting the race in 12th.
Button was having problems with his car and was heard over the team radio earlier in the evening saying: "What have we done to this car. I'm massively struggling for grip".
His main contender Barrichello also had his hopes dashed after being given a five place grid penalty.
The Brazilian star was forced to change his gearbox after the third free practice session, and having not used it for four consecutive events, he was automatically penalised.
His day was made worse by a crash in Q3 qualifying as he pushed too hard on Turn 5, ramming the wall and buckling his left front wheel. He ended fifth but will start 10th.
Button is 14 points ahead of Barrichello with four Grand Prix left and 26 in front of Vettel.
It also proved to be a disastrous evening for Force India which was hoping to maintain its recent sterling form. Instead, both Germany's Adrian Sutil and Italy's Vitantonio Liuzzi failed to get through Q1.
Several drivers, led by Hamilton, have complained about how bumpy the street circuit was, saying the car "bounces and shakes".
They also had a dusty, slippery track to contend with as well as driving under powerful spotlights in the sport's only night race, with Button commenting that some of the corners were darker than he expected.
In steamy conditions but on a dry track, Hamilton delivered in the opening Q1 session, coming home first in his McLaren ahead of Button with Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari third.
Disappointing though for Ferrari was Giancarlo Fisichella's failure to make it through with the Italian clearing finding it difficult getting used to his car after switching from Force India.
He will start from 18th.
Also down the bottom of the pile is Sutil and Liuzzi along with Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and hapless Renault driver Romain Grosjean, who had problems keeping his car on the track.
The second part, Q2, saw Button eliminated, although consolation for Brawn was Barrichello fighting his way into the top 10 with a blistering final lap.
Joining Button was the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima, Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari, the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi and Jarno Trulli in a Toyota.
Williams hotshot Nico Rosberg emerged with the best time, followed by the late- charging Mark Webber in his Red Bull and his teammate Sebastien Vettel.
In the final Q3 shootout, Hamilton set the early pace and no one could beat him.
Fernando Alonso gave the disgraced Renault team something to cheer about by finishing sixth.
- AFP /ls
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