Lewis Hamilton Beats Nico Rosberg in Nervy 2014 Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying
Formula One's controversial new radio restrictions, designed to prevent teams and drivers from having a mid-race natter, have partially come into effect for this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.
Yet they did not stop Nico Rosberg from venting his disappointment at being beaten by Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes teammate, to pole position at the Marina Bay track.
"Damn it," was all that the German, according to the FIA television feed, could utter upon learning of his defeat in what must be one of the few team radio messages that remain permitted by the sport's governing body—although one could not have blamed Rosberg if a bleep machine had been required.
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Moments such as Hamilton's last-gasp lap time under the floodlights, with just six grands prix of the 2014 season remaining, are the type of instances which can decide the destiny of a world championship.
Trivial circumstances such as a driver starting on the dirty, rather than the clean, side of the starting grid suddenly grow in importance as a campaign approaches its climax, as races run out and as the amount of points to play for continues to shrink.
And Rosberg, who is currently nursing a 22-point lead over Hamilton in the drivers' standings, would have been only further enraged by the margin of the deficit to his Silver Arrows teammate.
Not the usual tenths of a second. Not the rare hundredths of a second. But thousandths.
Seven thousandths, in fact, according to the official Formula One website, which even in a sport as fast-paced as F1—in which the tiniest of margins can make the biggest of differences—is nothing.
The effects of the frustration of being so near and yet so far to a return to pole position after being convincingly outperformed by Hamilton over the Italian Grand Prix weekend, where Rosberg made an uncharacteristic error, remains to be seen.
When, however, the contrasting emotions of elation and exasperation subside for both drivers, they—along with the team—will recognise that it could have been much worse.
Mercedes should arguably have been beaten in qualifying.
The German manufacturer was not just rivaled by an in-the-mood Red Bull or a punchy Williams—the only other team to secure a pole position in 2014 courtesy of Felipe Massa in Austria—Ferrari had, rather unexpectedly, joined the club too.
As such, the one-hour session under the night sky of Singapore was not so much a duel as it was a riot, a brawl, a free-for-all.
The pace of Mercedes' peers was reflected in the final classification, with just half a second, as per Formula1.com, separating Hamilton's time from that of Valtteri Bottas, the Williams driver, who was classified in eighth position.
"One of the most exciting qualifying sessions I can remember!! #pole #singaporeGP #TeamLH pic.twitter.com/pJYNzb84Z7
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) September 20, 2014"
The 2008 world champion admitted his shock at his rivals' pace, telling Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde of Autosport:
"The others have taken a step, it is a real, real surprise.
I'm just as surprised to see Ferrari competing on a lap, which is great to see, also Williams and Red Bull.
For racing it is great. That is the most exciting qualifying session I have had for a long time. You have to be spot on and I was almost there.
"
Although, to their credit, Hamilton and Rosberg eventually got the job done to record Mercedes' seventh front-row lockout of the season, both drivers were arguably their own worst enemies for the majority of the qualifying session.
Rosberg spent the evening flushing any post-Monza mistakes out of his system, ruining his first lap of Q1 by running wide at Turn 8 before locking up at the Turn 13 hairpin on his final effort of Q3 in what proved to be the decisive moment of the session.
Hamilton, likewise, endured an hour riddled with slight errors—the type that cost him pole positions in Canada, Austria and Belgium earlier this season—and even made a mistake on his pole lap, locking up into the opening corner of the lap.
Such mistakes are common against the backdrop of the world championship, with drivers placing themselves under too much pressure to succeed and ultimately finding themselves operating with fear.
The most recent example occurred in the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2012, a season finale which was billed as a showdown between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, the two title protagonists.
In reality, however, it proved to be anything but, with Vettel and Alonso qualifying fourth and eighth respectively and being out-qualified by their respective teammates, Mark Webber and Massa.
But while it was human nature for Vettel and Alonso to drive with a certain stiffness in the final race of a season with the title on the line, it is almost unheard of to see drivers seemingly compete with such anxiety with six grands prix still to go.
It is arguably, though, a reflection of the sheer intensity of the battle between Hamilton and Rosberg.
The personal nature of their rivalry, and their struggles to balance a traditionally racing driver-like unwillingness to give an inch—either on-track or psychologically—with a sense of teamwork under the Mercedes banner has presented the duo with a unique challenge.
And with double points on offer in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix—an event shrouded in so much uncertainty—both Silver Arrows drivers will be anxious to place as many fingers as possible on the crown before the final race of the campaign, which would further explain their increased, premature sense of urgency.
Hamilton and Rosberg got away with a relatively average showing in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.
And with the pressures of the title tug of war only set to increase between the Marina Bay race and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and with no shortage of drivers and teams waiting to take advantage of any slip-ups, neither Rosberg nor Hamilton can afford to put a wheel out of line.
The pressure is building.
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