The bright lights illuminating the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore for qualifying could not have shed a harsher glare on the contrast in emotion between this season’s two Formula One world championship protagonists, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel, rightly euphoric after a blistering lap helped him take pole, knows what a mighty marker he has laid down, while Hamilton, a distant fifth, must try and make the best of a race that in all likelihood will put the lead of the world championship back in the German’s hands. After his win in the last round at Monza, Hamilton leads Vettel by three points, the first time he has been in front this season. On the form of their respective cars, Hamilton, who said he had could not have wrung more from his drive on Saturday, will have held it for but one meeting.

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Vettel was ecstatic with his final lap in Q3. He threw the Ferrari at the track, taking huge speed into the 23 slow corners that define the 3.2-mile street circuit and executed it to within inches of the walls, including a kiss with the barriers on the exit of turn 19. He could not have pushed harder.

Crucial for his world championship ambitions was the gap he enjoyed over Hamilton. Vettel’s track record lap of 1min 39.491sec was three-tenths clear of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who were in second and third, and a half-second up on his team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen. But it was in a different league to Mercedes, who had known their car would not be suited to the high-downforce challenge of Singapore. Hamilton finished six-tenths back from Vettel.

With Red Bull strong in practice and the first two qualifying sessions, Vettel knew he had to extract the maximum and did so. “It’s amazing to gain pole position. I love this track so I’m really pleased,” he said. “The car was amazing and I’m really happy with what I’ve done today.

“When you feel the car coming alive, you just feel you can do anything with it. I knew we had it in us. It was a bit of a struggle to get there, but we did it. We have got the car where it deserved to be.”

Ferrari were expected to be on top here, with the track playing to the strengths of their car – well balanced on entry and exit and especially strong through slow corners. On his final run in Q3 Vettel was able to turn up the wick on his engine and the Ferrari’s strength on turn-in was clear but the German had to fashion a magnificent run to exploit it.

Mercedes in contrast knew they would struggle with their car optimised for the high-speed circuits. Nonetheless, they will be disappointed they were not closer. “I didn’t anticipate Ferrari would be as strong as they were,” Hamilton said. “I got everything I could out of the car, I gave it everything, everything and more. I squeezed every single bit out of it.”

Toto Wolff, the Mercedes executive director, accepted that the team knew they would be under the cosh. “It’s what we expected,” he said. “You always hope for better but it is realistically where we are in Singapore. Overall, not a great weekend for us so far but it is tomorrow that counts.

“If there are no DNFs the best result is the least points loss to Sebastian. On track we are the third fastest car so it is about having a good start and being in the groove and then play the strategies.”

Sunday will be a challenge. Hamilton has both Ferraris and Red Bulls in front of him and his team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, who was well off the pace, in no position to interfere starting from sixth. Vettel’s chief threat is the Red Bulls and he must be wary of Verstappen and Ricciardo who will look to attack off the grid. Damage limitation, however, will be Hamilton’s target, minimising the points advantage Vettel has the potential to take with a clean getaway and a win.

Hamilton was blunt about his chances. “This is a crap track for overtaking,” he said. “Strategy is an opportunity and the safety car, we have to play the long game, it is a marathon not a sprint.”

Overtaking is indeed fiendishly difficult at Marina Bay. The only real opportunity is going into turn seven, but the track there is bumpy offline, making it doubly difficult to make a pass. For Vettel, however, it may not be a concern. His record in Singapore is exceptional, especially from the front.

He has won four times, three of them from pole and his overall record is remarkable. He is the only driver to have reached the flag at every Singapore Grand Prix and has never finished lower than fifth. Comprehensively beaten by Hamilton on the low-downforce blast at Monza, he will be confident in returning the favour on Sunday and reclaiming his championship lead.

McLaren, with their new Renault engine deal for next year now done, made the most of a track that flatters their underpowered Honda power unit. Fernando Alonso finished in eighth place and Stoffel Vandoorne in ninth.

Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg was in seventh place with Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr in 10th.

Jolyon Palmer, who has been dropped by Renault in favour of Sainz for 2018, was 11th. Sergio Pérez finished in 12th place with his Force India team-mate Esteban Ocon in 15th. The Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat was in 13th and romain Grosjean in the Haas in 15th.

The second Haas of Kevin Magnussen was in 16th, followed by the two Williams of Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll. Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber finished in 20th place and will take a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, his team-mate Pascal Wehrlein was in 19th.