Hamilton didn't expect Mercedes to be so down on Ferrari/Red Bull in Singapore

For once, Lewis Hamilton looked helpless after a qualifying session. The Mercedes driver was smiling, but one could sense the tension, having been beaten by his title rival fair and square on a Saturday.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took pole for Singapore Grand Prix by 0.323s over Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen, but more importantly he was 0.635s up on Hamilton, who finished just fifth.

"I definitely couldn’t get anymore of it," said Hamilton after the qualifying. "I gave it everything I was holding on to the reins, so I extracted everything I could of the car.

"But I don’t know if I anticipated this weekend would be so far, as far as that off. [I expected] maybe three-tenths or two-tenths, but five and a bit tenths (0.635s to be exact) is a good gap.

"I think for sure we are definitely feeling it within our team, but we will do the best job we can tomorrow. There’s no points for today but this is a horrible track for overtaking, so it’s going to be a bit of long slog tomorrow," he added.

It is no surprise Mercedes expected a better run from Ferrari and Red Bull in Singapore, but both Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda admitted that its team's qualifying performance was on the 'little worse' side than their original expectation.

Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas, meanwhile, was sixth - a further 0.684s from the British driver. The Finn is also amidst a difficult weekend so far.

For Ferrari, though, it was a relief after its Friday runs, where they were lacking a bit, even to Red Bull. But Vettel bounced back, extracting all from the session to take his fourth pole in Singapore.

"I’m really happy. Obviously the weekend so far has been a bit up and down for us. Yesterday was difficult. This afternoon was difficult. Tonight the car really came alive and it was just getting better," said Vettel.

"Q1, I didn’t know how the hell I was going to find a second and a half. But then, by Q2, the car was like a switch, from off to on – much better. I knew that the track would ramp up but probably I didn’t expect it that much.

"At the end, Q3 I was very happy with both my laps. A bit lucky in my final lap, because I brushed the wall quite severely out of 19. It was not just a little brush; it was actually a hit. I thought, “OK, I have to keep going”.

"It was fine until I approached the last corner; I had huge vibration. Thankfully there was only one corner left but I really pushed as hard as I could. I was very relieved when I crossed the line."

Talking about the race, while Vettel has Verstapppen, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen to fend off at the start, at the same time, Hamilton is hoping he can get through Raikkonen early, and Verstappen takes care of Vettel.

"He’s got Verstappen near him so anything can happen at the start," said Hamilton. "But I just got to try and see if I can good start. If I can pick at least one of the Ferraris off, that would be very helpful.

"Otherwise for sure, not the happiest [with the result] but what can I do, I gave it my all, I definitely didn’t make any mistakes, I got every single tenth and millisecond of the car, so I squeezed it till it was dry and we now look forward."

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