SINGAPORE (AP) Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg took pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix with a stunning lap time at the Marina Bay street circuit on Saturday.
Rosberg trails championship leader and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton by two points in the championship. But the German put himself in the best possible position for a third consecutive victory with a time of 1 minute, 42.584 seconds - more than half a second faster than Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in second.
Hamilton qualified third, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen qualified fifth but teammate Sebastian Vettel starts last after his car had an anti-roll bar failure in the Q1 session.
Red Bull cars start the race on harder tires than the Mercedes, allowing them to go longer Sunday before pitting.
