2015 Singapore Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton faces stiff challenge, qualifying down in fifth place

Lewis Hamilton struggled at the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix, qualifying down in fifth place, his worst as the world championship reaches the latter part of the season. Hamilton said that the tyres were to blame for his terrible run during the qualifying session.

Hamilton had targeted this weekend to chase history as he was vying to equal Ayrton Senna’s all-time record of eight consecutive pole positions, but Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the pace and took pole for the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix. It was Vettel’s first pole position this season.

The British World Championship leader told Sky Sports F1 that the tyres were to blame, which is why he failed to take pole position at the Marina Bay Circuit, where he won title last year. Hamilton’s teammate qualified down to sixth place.

“It was actually really challenging and these tyres for some reason aren’t working on our car,” Hamilton said. “It’s so weird, you heat them up the same as everyone else, you do your warm-up lap the same as everyone else, then you finish your lap, which you think will be okay grip and then you see someone else second up the road so it’s very strange.”

Mercedes had demonstrated apparent domination of the season by far, but the team’s recent setback could be attributed to a number of theories, Sky Sports further reported. The problem likely was the W06 engine performance in tropical heat in addition to Pirelli’s super-soft tyres, which could be overheating.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed during the post-session media conference that the team’s fall from grace is likely because the team’s lack of overall grip and traction. They have no explanation why Ferrari and Red Bull were just so much faster in Singapore.

Hamilton was still rather unperturbed after struggling in Singapore. He has a comfortable 53-point lead in the leaderboard. Thus, a poor performance in Singapore shouldn’t be that much of a matter. The British will be racing on his best to get on to the podium for the 13^th race of the season.

F1 Qualifying Results (Team/Time)

1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari/1:43.885)

2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull/1:44.428)

3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrar/1:44.667)

4. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull/1:44.745)

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes/1:45.300)

6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes/1:45.415)

7. Valterri Bottas (Williams/1:45.676)

8. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso/1:45.798)

9. Felipe Massa (William/1:46.077)

10. Romain Grosjean (Lotus/1:46.413)

Visit Formula1.com for full results.