Ferrari have been down this season but in the hands of Charles Leclerc, the Scuderia proved they are not quite out with pole for the Singapore Grand Prix. So unexpected was Leclerc’s dominant, exceptional performance and Ferrari’s pace that it was a bolt from the blue but one that lost none of its impact for being delivered beneath the velvet black night sky of the Marina Bay circuit.

Spectacle of Singapore offers F1’s best chance of attracting a new audience | Giles Richards Read more

But there was dissent in the air as both Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel and the driver he restricted to second, Lewis Hamilton, were dismissive of proposals under discussion by Formula One to introduce a reverse grid concept for 2020.

Under this plan, qualifying would be replaced by a sprint race started in reverse order of championship standings, with its finishing positions making up the grid for the race.

“People that propose that don’t really know what they’re talking about,” said Hamilton. Vettel was even more scornful. “It’s complete bullshit, to be honest,” he said. “If you want to improve things it’s very clear we need to string the field more together, we need to have better racing. I don’t know which genius came up with this but it’s not the solution.”

Leclerc’s focus, however, will be onSunday’s race and his lap to beat Hamilton into second by almost two-tenths was stunning not only for his pace but also because he had thrown everything into it, fighting for every inch of the 3.15-mile circuit.

His third pole in a row and fifth this season, more than any other driver, once more delivered notice that not only is he outperforming Vettel, who was third, but given the right machinery he will be challenging for the world championship.

For Ferrari it is perhaps an even more striking achievement, potentially the turning point they have been striving for all year. They expected to be behind Mercedes and Red Bull in Singapore, having struggled for balance and grip through the slow corners all season, while their straight-line speed advantage was largely mitigated at Marina Bay. But they had brought a new front wing and floor and unexpectedly everything finally clicked.

Certainly Leclerc proved he had the car beneath him that could deliver through the 23 corners. Vettel had set a superb time on his first hot lap with a 1min 36.457sec. He was threading the needle with the flair he has shown in Singapore on previous occasions, going to within a whisker of the walls but keeping it clean. He made an error on his second lap and aborted it while Leclerc found another plane altogether.

His final lap was extraordinary, gaining time in the first two sectors and nailing the third where Ferrari were weakest with inch-perfect execution. His time of 1:36.217 was untouchable but he had to go to the very limit to make it. He controlled a snap of oversteer through turn three and almost lost it at the Anderson Bridge, where he had crashed last year.

A jubilant Leclerc explained how close it had been. “I’m extremely happy,” he said. “It was a very good lap but there were some moments when I thought I had lost the car, but I took it back. We came here knowing it would be a difficult track for us but we brought the package we needed.”

Hamilton has a 63-point lead in the drivers’ standings over his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who was fifth behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. But the Briton said he could not have done more to catch Leclerc.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lewis Hamilton (left) and Sebastian Vettel flank Charles Leclerc after the Monegasque took pole ahead of the Briton and the German. Photograph: Vincent Thian/AP

“Charles put some great laps in and I needed something special at the end, so I gave it absolutely everything I had,” he said. “It was very, very close – I’m sure I nearly hit the wall a couple of times – but it was as much as I could get out of the car. I’m really, really happy to be on the front row, in the mix with Ferrari, and try and divide them tomorrow.”

This was reason to celebrate at Ferrari, putting what has been a dominant Mercedes in the shade on a track they expected to play to their strengths. The Ferrari team principal, Mattia Binotto, said their performance had been “even better than we hoped”.

Leclerc is on a roll, with wins at the last two rounds in Spa and Monza, and while a win is far from guaranteed he will be full of confidence he can convert pole. The long runs in practice exhibited a pace advantage for Mercedes over Ferrari but with overtaking very difficult and a one-stop strategy almost certain, leading from the front of the grid may well be crucial if he can hold the place through turn one. Expect Leclerc and a buoyant Scuderia to come out fighting.

Alexander Albon was sixth for Red Bull. Carlos Sainz enjoyed another strong qualifying to claim seventh for McLaren with his teammate, Lando Norris, 10th. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg were eighth and ninth. Ricciardo, however, was later found to have exceeded the power limit on his MGU-K unit during Q1 and was disqualified from qualifying by the stewards. He will start the race from the pit lane.

Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez finished 11th but will take a five-place grid penalty for a new gearbox. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was 12th with his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen, 14th. Pierre Gasly was 13th for Toro Rosso in front of the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

Daniil Kvyat was 16th for Toro Rosso and Lance Stroll was 17th for Racing Point in front of the Haas of Romain Grosjean. George Russell and Robert Kubica were 19th and 20th for Williams.