Hamilton takes Singapore pole, Button rues ‘disastrous’ qualifying that has him starting 12th

Hamilton takes Singapore pole, Button 12th on grid

SINGAPORE — Lewis Hamilton of McLaren took the pole position Saturday for the Singapore Grand Prix, while Formula One championship leader Jenson Button had a “disastrous” qualifying session.

Button will start from 12th on the grid, behind even Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian finished fifth despite a late crash, but was demoted five spots to 10th for having made a gearbox change.

Brawn’s woes were good news for Red Bull, the only team with drivers that can catch Brawn in the championship standings. Sebastian Vettel will begin second and Mark Webber from fourth.

Button made an error late in the second qualifying session, locking his breaks after the bottom of his car touched the bumpy track, damaging his tires and ruining his flying lap.

“It’s not good, it’s disastrous really,” Button said. “Around here you can’t overtake so it’s very disappointing. I’m worried that I am not going to be able to get any points. It’s pretty bad for the championship.”

Hamilton had the fastest lap of 1 minute, 47.891 seconds around the Marina Bay circuit. It was the 16th pole of his career, and third in four races.

The Briton was eager to perform well to compensate for his crash on the last lap of the Italian Grand Prix, which cost McLaren a podium finish.

“I was very hard on myself after the last race which was well deserved,” Hamilton said. “I would like to lift myself back up, lift the team back up and give an apology to the team with a good result.

“The car, over the weekend, got better and better. We will see what happens with the strategy, but we are in the best position, starting from the front row.”

The Red Bulls relished a return to a high downforce circuit after struggling to match the speed of its rivals in Belgium and Italy. The front row slot gives Vettel a chance to close the gap on the Brawn pair, who fill the top two spots in the drivers’ championship. Button has 80 points and Barrichello 66, while has Vettel 54 and Webber 51.5.

“It’s quite a big gap for sure but we are not giving up, we are here to attack,” Vettel said. “It’s still a long way to go, four races, and we will do all we can.”

Nico Rosberg of Williams was third fastest — his best qualifying performance since 2006. The Williams team also relished a return to a track that rewards cornering over straight-line speed.

“We have made another step for a podium finish and who knows, we might even fight for a win soon,” Rosberg said.

Webber could have threatened for the pole — he was on his last flying lap and on fresh tires when qualifying was red flagged with 26 seconds left due to Barrichello’s accident. While he was satisfied with fourth, he was not yet convinced the championship fight was back on.

“Both Sebastian and I are right there, and Rubens has a penalty, so we can do something from there,” Webber said. “We need to get a one-two and they (Brawn) need to have an off day.”

Barrichello crashed into a wall late in qualifying, damaging both the front and rear suspension.

Barrichello had damaged the undertray on his car during the second session of qualifying, but was not prepared to ease up in his bid to overtake Button for the championship.

“After 17 years (in F1) I couldn’t afford to say, ‘We have some floor damage so I will go slow,’” Barrichello said. “My biggest fight is against (Button), so I am happy.”

Ferrari, which has given up further developing its current car and is already concentrating on next year, predictably struggled. Kimi Raikkonen qualified 13th and Giancarlo Fisichella 18th.

Associated Press Writer Alex Kennedy contributed to this report.