SINGAPORE // So perhaps Mercedes-GP are mortal after all.
A streak of 23 pole positions in a row, dating back to June last year, came to a shuddering halt Saturday in Singapore as Ferrari gave the strongest indication yet that their renaissance is real.
Sebastian Vettel dominated qualifying, setting two lap times that would have been good enough for pole position, as his quickest effort of 1 minutes, 43.885 seconds proved to be almost six-tenths of a second faster than anyone else. Mercedes have proved largely unstoppable on Saturday afternoon since the start of the 2014 season, taking pole in 30 of the 31 races.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton only managed fifth, 1.4 secs off Vettel’s pace, as he was out-performed by Vettel and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who was third, as well as the Red Bull Racing cars of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, who were second and fourth.
But the focus Saturday was on Vettel and Ferrari.
This was a breakthrough display by the four-time world champion and the Italian team in their first year together.
Vettel has won twice this season, in Malaysia and Hungary, but on both occasions they were not the fastest package. Rather, they capitalised on mistakes by Mercedes to triumph.
There were no mistakes Saturday from Mercedes. Vettel was the quickest on merit, and it continues to demonstrate the rapid improvement of his employers, who have bounced back from their awful 2014 season when they had their first winless campaign in 21 years.
To put this performance in perspective, one must go back to the race weekend in Singapore five years ago for the last time Ferrari topped qualifying in a dry session. Fernando Alonso wrestled his car to top spot twice in 2012, in Britain and Germany, but both were in wet conditions, an environment that often hides a car’s technical flaws and levels the playing field.
The expectation prior to this weekend was that Hamilton, who had taken pole in 11 of the first 12 races this season, would do so again and reach the milestone of 50 in his career.
But Vettel’s own qualifying pace should not be forgotten. This is the man with the record for the most poles in one season, 15 in 2011, and Saturday’s effort was his 46th pole overall.
Vettel remains focused on trying to pick up the 42nd win of his career on Sunday and revitalise his slim title hopes - he trails Hamilton by 74 points.
“I know it is only Saturday and the main job is tomorrow, but I had to enjoy the moment,” he said of punching the air as he crossed the line to complete his final lap.
“The car was fantastic to drive and got better through qualifying. I am surprised by the margin, but it just came together.”
Given his raw speed advantage, which in final practice was around 0.5 seconds on both the soft and hard Pirelli tyre compounds, Vettel will start as a strong favourite Sunday to win for a fourth time in Singapore, and he should dominate if the race is straightforward.
But events in Singapore are rarely that, with the safety car making an appearance at least once in each of the previous seven stagings of the event at the Marina Bay circuit. It is not hard to envisage that happening, given the tight confines of the 5-kilometre street track.
If any team should be worried about that prospect, it should be Mercedes and Hamilton. The German marque have made strategy errors in Malaysia and Monaco when under pressure while the circuit was under full caution, and both mistakes cost Hamilton wins.
Sunday is likely to be damage limitation for the the world champion as he seeks to maintain his 53-point lead at the top of the standings from teammate Nico Rosberg, who starts in sixth place.
Given their lack of performance here, he and the team can ill-afford any tactical blunders as, for once, it appears they do not have the speed to recover from it.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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