Hamilton had been on the pace throughout the session, and was the last to post his first timed lap in Q3, taking provisional pole. But with only one run remaining for all drivers, Rubens Barrichello brought out the red flags when he crashed at turn 5, damaging the left side of his car. Although he was able to emerge unscathed from the crash, the red flag meant the session was effectively over, with just 26 seconds left on the clock.

Hamilton then claimed pole thanks to his initial lap of 1m47.891s, with the rest of the top ten also decided on the first run of flying laps. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel took second place alongside Hamilton with a 1m48.204s, followed Nico Rosberg (1m48.348s) producing a fantastic performance in his Williams. The German had gone quickest of all in Q2, setting the weekend’s fastest time at 1m46.197s, but fell back slightly with race fuel in Q3.

Fourth went to Mark Webber (1m48.722s), while Barrichello’s first lap of 1m48.828s was enough for fifth. However, with the Brazilian having changed his gearbox before qualifying he will start in tenth place. Fernando Alonso (1m49.054s) moves from sixth to fifth thanks to Barrichello’s penalty, while Timo Glock (1m49.180s), Nick Heidfeld (1m49.307s), Robert Kubica (1m49.514s) and Heikki Kovalainen (1m49.778s) all gain a place each also.

Kazuki Nakajima starts 11th after falling two tenths short of Q3 on a 1m47.013s, while championship leader Jenson Button compounded Brawn’s woes by qualifying just 12th. The Briton had finished second in Q1, but saw his pace desert him for the crucial Q2 session and struggled with a 1m47.141s. Kimi Räikkönen (1m47.177s), Sébastien Buemi (1m47.369s) and Jarno Trulli (1m47.413s) rounded out the Q2 participants.

Those dropping out of qualifying in Q1 included the lacklustre Giancarlo Fisichella who had struggled all weekend at the wheel of the Ferrari F60. The Italian clocked a 1m48.350s in Q1, little over a second adrift of his team-mate, but 15 places behind. He starts 18th, with Adrian Sutil (1m48.231s) 16th and Jaime Alguersuari (1m48.340s) 17th ahead, and Romain Grosjean (1m48.544s) and Tonio Liuzzi (1m48.792s) behind.

Here are the full results;

Below is the weight of each car following qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, sorted by qualifying position.

Note – Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello has dropped from fifth to 10th after he was penalized for changing his car’s gearbox.

1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 660.5kg
2. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 651
3. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 657.5
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 654.5
5. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 658
6. Timo Glock, Toyota, 660.5
7. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 650
8. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 664
9. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 664.5
10. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 655.5
11. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 680.7
12. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 683
13. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 680.5
14. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 678
15. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 690.9
16. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 693
17. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 683.5
18. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 678.5
19. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 683
20. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 656