Alonso sets the pace in Singapore
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Fernando Alonso gave his Formula One world title hopes a big boost by qualifying in pole position for today's Singapore Grand Prix after topping the timesheets yesterday.
The Spaniard lapped the floodlit Marina Bay circuit in one minute 45.390 seconds in his Ferrari, ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
The McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button qualified third and fourth, ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber, meaning the top five drivers in the championship standings will start from the top five spots on the grid in today's race.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa will start from last on the grid after his car suffered a gearbox problem before he could set a time in the first qualifying session.
Rubens Barrichello was in sixth for Williams followed by Nico Rosberg in Mercedes and Robert Kubica in Renault. Michael Schumacher, racing in Singapore for the first time, was ninth for Mercedes.
Vettel set the fastest time in final practice earlier in the day to complete a Red Bull clean sweep of practice sessions.
The German continued his dominance from Friday with a best time of 1 minute, 48.028 seconds, putting him ahead of Alonso and Lewis Hamilton heading to the pre-qualifying session.
Yesterday's practice times were about 1.5 seconds slower than Friday, with the track still damp in places from afternoon rain, and drivers struggling for grip with low track temperatures in the Singapore night.
Jenson Button was the odd man out among the championship contenders, finishing a lowly 13th on the timesheets.
"We saw today that, after it rains, the track doesn't dry very quickly and a lot of water comes up through the circuit," Button said.
"It's difficult to see which parts of the track are wet because of the glare.
"Hopefully, we won't have any more rain this weekend because wet conditions aren't the nicest to drive in."
