F1: Hamilton Continues McLaren Qualifying Juggernaut

Lewis Hamilton and McLaren maintained their hot hand in Singapore qualifying...

Jared Turner | Posted September 22, 2012 Marina Bay (SGP)

McLaren has won the last three Grands Prix.

The British team is well-positioned to make it four in a row in Sunday's Singapore GP.

After trailing the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel in all three practices at Marina Bay Street Circuit, it was Lewis Hamilton's McLaren on top when it counted — Saturday's third and decisive round of knockout qualifying.

Picking up right where he left off in Monza two weeks ago, Hamilton showed the way with a lap of 1:46:362 that easily eclipsed the top lap of second-place Pastor Maldonado (1:46:804) and third-place Vettel (1:46:905).

"The guys have done a fantastic job all week," said Hamilton, who gave McLaren its fourth straight pole. "Very, very happy that I was able to pull that time out. It was really a great lap. I'm very happy with it."

Vettel, dominant in all three practice sessions, was understandably unhappy to be just third.

"A little disappointed, especially with Q3," the reigning World Champion said. "I don't know why we couldn't do the last step, because I think the speed was there. It just didn't come together in the end."

Venezuelan Maldonado, meanwhile, seemingly came out of nowhere to put his Williams in the No. 2 spot.

"I'm really looking forward to the race because yesterday we showed very good pace and were very consistent, " he said.

Jenson Button and championship leader Fernando Alonso completed the tip five.

Positions six through 10 for Sunday's grid belong to Paul di Resta, Mark Webber, Romain Grosjean, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

Grosjean is back this weekend after serving a one-race suspension for causing a crash in the Belgian GP.

Lewis Hamilton's McLaren paced Singapore GP qualifying. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Unsurprisingly, qualifying produced its share of disappointed drivers.

Among them was 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, who sits third and just one point out of second in the driver standings.

After struggling for speed in Friday's practices before seeing some improvement in Saturday's final practice found, the Finn was not quick enough for Q3. He will start Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix from 12th on the grid.

One position back of Grosjean is Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, whose 13th-place qualifying result certainly won't help the under-fire Brazilian in his quest to retain his seat for 2013.

Also missing Q3 was Mexican Sergio Perez, who comes into the weekend fresh off a standout second-place finish two weeks ago in Italy.

Perez, whose name has been tossed about as a possible replacement for Massa next season, will start 14th.

Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix is the 14th of 20 events on the 2012 Formula One calendar, which concludes in late November with the Brazilian GP.

Coming into the weekend, Alonso leads the drivers' standings by 37 points over Hamilton, 38 over Raikkonen and 39 over Vettel. Webber (-47) completes the top five.

Alonso and Hamilton both have a season-high three victories, while Webber and Button, each with two victories, are the season's other repeat winners.

Hamilton hopes to make it No. 4 — and four in a row for McLaren — on Sunday.

"It's an incredibly tough circuit for tire degradation," the 2008 World Champion said. "I think everyone's going to struggle with that. We just have to try to get away cleanly at the start and stick with our strategy and be prepared if it doesn't work."

SPEED coverage of Formula One in Singapore resumes at 7:30 a.m. ET Sunday with the live pre-race show.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.