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From press release

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton beat his teammate Nico Rosberg by only 0.007 second during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

That represents only 33.5 centimetres around the Marina Bay circuit.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRI2)

"That was one of the most exciting qualifying sessions I can remember," said an enthusiastic Hamilton.

"I lost a lot of time at the beginning of my last lap and at that point I thought pole was lost. But I just kept going and managed to pull some time back."

Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg (Photo: WRI2)

Despite losing to Hamilton by such a small margin, Rosberg was not dwelling on his performance: "When I heard that Lewis was that tiny margin quicker I thought 'damn'!

"I directly reviewed my lap and thought there were so many places to gain seven thousandths of a second - especially in the last corner.

"But in the end he did seven thousandths of a better job today, so fair play to him. P2 is still good for tomorrow's race and I'm focused on having a good start."

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRI2)

And in Singapore, Mercedes' rivals look closer than ever.

"From our point of view, it's clear that we don't enjoy the advantage here that we have had on previous weekends," admitted Toto Wolff.

"But this is a unique circuit and to produce a car which can be fast at every venue on the calendar is a big task, so we must be very pleased with a 1-2 front-row lockout."

Qualifying results* - Singapore Grand Prix (round 14 of 19)
1.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 1'45"681 - Q3
2.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 1'45"688 - Q3
3.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'45"854 - Q3
4.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'45"902 - Q3
5.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'45"907 - Q3
6.Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'46"000 - Q3
7.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'46"170 - Q3
8.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'46"187 - Q3
9.Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'46"250 - Q3
10.Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'47"362 - Q3
11.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'46"943 - Q2
12.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'46"989 - Q2
13.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'47"308 - Q2
14.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'47"333 - Q2
15.Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'47"575 - Q2
16.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'47"812 - Q2
17.Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'48"324 - Q1
18.Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'49"063 - Q1
19.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'49"440 - Q1
20.Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'50"405 - Q1
21.Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'50"473 - Q1
22.Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'52"287 - Q1
*Unofficial results

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: WRI2)

From press release

Toyota Racing extended its lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship by taking pole position for the Six Hours of Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi, who share the #8 TS040 Hybrid with Nicolas Lapierre, claimed pole position by more than a second. That earned a bonus point which extends their lead in the drivers' championship to 21 points.

Sébastien Buemi, Nicolas Lapierre, Anthony Davidson (Photo: WRI2)

The team celebrated its third pole position from four races this season, also earning a point which doubles its lead in the manufacturers' standings to two points.

Mike Conway took part in qualifying on his Toyota Racing debut. He, and Stéphane Sarrazin, claimed fifth position in the #7 they share with Alex Wurz.

#7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid (Photo: WRI2)

The WEC qualifying format requires two drivers from each car to set a minimum of two flying laps each. The grid is decided by the combined average of each driver's fastest two laps.

Earlier rain left parts of the circuit damp for the start of qualifying, so the #8 crew waited for three minutes before heading on track. That decision proved significant as the drying track saw lap times improve throughout the 25-minute session.

Photo: WRI2

Qualifying results - Word Endurance Championship (WEC)
1.Davidson-Lapierre-Buemi (Toyota TS040 Hybrid) - Toyota - 1'49"093
2.Dumas-Jani-Lieb (Porsche 919 Hybrid) - Porsche - 1'50"283
3.Bernhard-Webber-Hartley (Porsche 919 Hybrid) - Porsche - 1'50"302
4.Fassler-Lotterer-Treluyer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro) - Audi - 1'50"340
5.Wurz-Sarrazin-Conway (Toyota TS040 Hybrid) - Toyota - 1'50"363
6.Di Grassi-Duval-Kristensen (Audi R18 e-tron quattro) - Audi - 1'51"456
7.Kraihamer-Belicchi-Leimer (Rebellion R One-Toyota - Rebellion - 1'54"665
8.Rusinov-Pla-Canal (Ligier JS P2-Nissan) - G Drive - 1'56"075
9.Howson-Bradley-Matsuda (Oreca 03-Nissan) - KCMG - 1'56"371
10.Sharp-Dalziel-Brown (HPD ARX 03b - Honda) - Extreme Speed - 1'57"262
(...)

From GMM

Jenson Button has acknowledged that McLaren's deliberations over its 2015 lineup could leave him without an alternative.

Amid the high uncertainty, an impression began to form at Monza recently that the British team would in fact not sign a top name like Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso next year.

At the same time, it was said that veteran Button and his manager had been enjoying much more promising talks with team supremo Ron Dennis.

McLaren boss Eric Boullier, however, is giving absolutely nothing away in Singapore.

"Wait for the decision and the announcement," he told reporters.

Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-29 (Photo: WRI2)

Button agreed: "Patience is a virtue -- you all should be patient."

Boullier and Button's comments might be interpreted to mean that a decision has now been taken, and that the new policy of silence could mean an imminent announcement is pending.

But Button said: "There is still no answer."

And the 34-year-old admitted that the delay could compromise his entire F1 career.

"I think most (other) cockpits are already taken," he said.

So if McLaren does turn to someone else, Button could be left with the music stopped and little desire to accept whatever chairs are left vacant.

"I want to drive for a competitive team, otherwise as a world champion it would make little sense to keep going."

From GMM

Felipe Massa has advised his former Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso to stick with the Italian team for now.

But the Brazilian, who lost his seat at the end of last year and has appeared much happier in 2014 at Williams, has joined those in surmising that fabled Ferrari appears to be sinking into its crisis-struck state of the distant past.

In the past days, weeks and months, as Maranello had to acknowledge its slump had extended into the all-new V6 era, Ferrari has shed multiple names including Domenicali, Marmorini and now the iconic di Montezemolo.

"What is happening there is honestly not something that surprises me," Massa, who raced a Ferrari since he was the great Michael Schumacher's teammate in 2006, told the Spanish sports daily AS in Singapore.

"Honestly, I hope only for good things for Ferrari."

But, having alluded to the new era of implosion, AS nonetheless asked Massa if he would advise Alonso to jump ship and - like him - start a happier chapter elsewhere.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F-14T (Photo: WRI2)

"No," said Massa.

"It's different to me. If I was him I would not to go McLaren.

"Mercedes, yes. Red Bull, I don't know.

"He should only go to a team where he can win and I think Honda and McLaren will be a good chapter but not for winning next year."

Not only that, but Alonso quitting Ferrari after five years without adding a further title to his collection would be deemed a failure.

"Yes, maybe, you could say that," Massa agreed.

"But Alonso is not stupid, he knows what to do. I think he will continue in Ferrari next year, but you know anything can always happen."

Finally, Massa insisted he is not surprised that his successor at Ferrari, the 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, has proved no match for Alonso in 2014.

"No," he said clearly, "because to be close to Alonso you have to do a perfect job. You have to be perfect. It is not a surprise to me."

Adapted from GMM

F1's intended clampdown on performance communications between teams and drivers has been dubbed 'Radio Ga-Ga' up and down the bemused paddock.

After the teams protested the speed and extremity with which Bernie Ecclestone and the governing FIA wielded the radio axe, it was agreed on the eve of practice in Singapore that messages related to car performance would now be allowed.

"Formula one's curious reputation for disposing of something simple and replacing it with something far more complex is in robust health," said Paul Weaver, correspondent for the Guardian newspaper.

It means that while radio calls about the performance of the car will still be allowed, messages about driver performance must no longer be uttered over the radio.

"This could be the most confusing radio story since Guglielmo Marconi bewildered everyone by banging on about electromagnetic radiation and wireless telegraphy more than a century ago," Weaver added.

When Hamilton asked for an update about his rivals' pace, his race engineer replied: "We'll just continue with our programme and discuss this when we get back in the garage." (Photo: WRI2)

Earlier, when all performance-related messages were going to be banned, Mercedes' title-warring drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton welcomed the news.

But with the watered-down ban in effect on Friday, they just sounded confused.

When Hamilton asked for an update about his rivals' pace, his race engineer replied: "We'll just continue with our programme and discuss this when we get back in the garage."

Rosberg also didn't know what could be discussed remotely, asking over the radio: "Are you allowed to tell me my teammate's laptime?"

While the answer might have been unclear to some, retired F1 veteran David Coulthard called the entire 'Radio Ga-Ga' affair "largely pointless".

The FIA's Charlie Whiting addressed the media in Singapore and explained that while coded messages are strictly forbidden, messages of encouragement to drivers - for example Hamilton's now famous 'Hammer time' - are still acceptable.

Coulthard told the Telegraph: "The teams will manage to communicate messages to the drivers one way or another."

Rosberg admitted: "Of course the teams will try to send the drivers hidden messages." (Photo: WRI2)

And even championship leader Rosberg admitted to Kolner Express newspaper: "Of course the teams will try to send the drivers hidden messages."

The driver steward at Suzuka next time out will be Coulthard's contemporary Mika Salo, and he said the 'Radio Ga-Ga' affair of the last few days has been "really weird".

"I think there should either be a complete ban, or no ban at all.

"The teams will just come up with codes and a number of other things that will now have to be looked at by the stewards," he told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

"In my opinion it's a strange rule because it's so difficult to police. We'll see what kind of mess I'm dealing with at the next race," Salo smiled.

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel's bad season continued to get worse even at the Singapore circuit he humbled at the height of his dominant powers.

As the German and Red Bull struggle to get to the bottom of the reigning quadruple world champion's 2014 troubles, he has yet another different RB10 chassis at his disposal under the Asian city-state's popular lights.

But it was not the car, but the Renault 'power unit' that was not working in Friday practice, leaving Vettel without anything to drive at all.

And the news got even worse -- with Vettel already running low in his allocation of five units for the whole season, the Singapore engine was "lost" amid Friday's troubles, Renault chief Remi Taffin admitted.

"The engine was at something like half-life, so it was quite a surprise and quite a shame, because we still had a small chance to go through the season without introducing a sixth unit," the Frenchman added.

"With this failure, we will have to commit to a sixth ICE (internal combustion engine)."

The sixth engine will carry with it a ten place grid penalty, although it will not necessarily have to be served on the tight and twisty streets of Singapore.

"It was a Friday engine," team boss Christian Horner said when asked about Vettel's Singapore failure.

Vettel commented: "Ideally we would have used it in Friday in Japan too. Obviously we can't now.

More bad luck for Sebastian Vettel (Photo: WRI2)

When he managed a few laps at the end of the second practice session on Friday, it was with the Singapore 'race' engine on board.

Red Bull and Renault will now be looking at the forthcoming races and deciding where it can best afford to slide Vettel ten places down the grid.

Taffin said: "It is now a question of where we are going to strategically introduce it, instead of how we are going to avoid it."

Team boss Christian Horner said: "Sebastian does not seem to have much luck at the moment."

Vettel tried to sound pragmatic.

"We already knew that eventually we would have to use another one (a sixth engine) this year. So I don't think this changes too much of our planning."

But his former teammate Mark Webber has said this year that Vettel seems to have inherited his unlucky car of past seasons.

Vettel, however - although a strict adherent to the games of superstition - prefers to put the difference between his and teammate Daniel Ricciardo's 2014 seasons down to chance.

"I think there is no reason," he said.

"Of course, there is always a reason why something breaks, but I mean there is no explanation as to why it happens to one car and not the other."

From press release

Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford team set a new track record at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on the way to earning their fifth pole of the season.

The performance marks Keselowski's eighth-career NSCS pole and the 12th front-row start for the team this season.

Photo: Chris Trotman/NASCAR via Getty Images

"I think Paul and the team brought a great car here, much like what we had in the spring race," said Keselowski.

"I think the temperatures and all those things are why you've seen an increase in speeds and certainly the guys have worked on horsepower and all those other things, but the cars are really good.

"This type of track is right in my wheelhouse, right in our team's wheelhouse. We had this race circled before the Chase started, and we felt decent about Chicago, but felt like this was a race of emphasis for us to get a win and get out of the first bracket."

Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images

From GMM

Toro Rosso intends to give Max Verstappen his F1 weekend debut in Japan early next month.

Earlier, it was expected that the second Red Bull team's confirmed 2015 rookie, who is still just 16, would debut in Friday practice sessions later this year.

But team boss Franz Tost said in Singapore that, after the Dutchman completed a test in Italy last week, he is now scheduled to drive at as soon as Suzuka next time out.

Everyone will be watching when Max Verstappen makes in F1 debut (Photo: WRI2)

"He did 396 kilometres (in the test) without any problem," said the Austrian.

"People were really impressed with his performance and now it's in the hands of the FIA whether he gets a super licence to do the Friday session in Suzuka.

"We will prepare him step by step and I am convinced that he is the correct driver for us for 2015," Tost added.

By Friday at Suzuka, Verstappen will be a few days over the age of 17.

Magna International shares tumbled the most in more than two years after the supplier said the offices of its Brazilian unit were visited in connection with an antitrust investigation.

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