Nico Rosberg beats Lewis Hamilton to Singapore Grand Prix pole position

Nico Rosberg in action at the Spanish GP on May 14, 2016
© Getty Images
Nico Rosberg claims pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix as Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton is demoted to third by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Nico Rosberg has claimed pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix after getting the better of Mercedes teammate and title rival Lewis Hamilton in qualifying.

The world champion will start in third place after a mistake on his flying lap allowed Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo to claim a front-row starting berth in second.

Rosberg ran the fastest ever recorded lap at Singapore, which was over half a second better than Hamilton's best.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took fourth ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, while Sebastian Vettel will start last after suffering a technical problem.

Romain Grosjean, who described his Haas car as 'one of the worst cars he's ever driven' on Saturday, crashed out while Jenson Button failed to reach the top 10 after brushing the wall in his McLaren.

Singapore GP qualifying results:

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
6. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)
7. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
9. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
10. Sergio Perez (Force India)
11. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
12. Felipe Massa (Williams)
13. Jenson Button (McLaren)
14. Esteban Gutierrez (Haas F1)
15. Romain Grosjean (Haas F1)
16. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
17. Kevin Magnussen (Renault)
18. Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
19. Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
20. Pascal Wehrlein (Manor)
21. Esteban Ocon (Manor)
22. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

Renault team manager Frederic Vasseur pictured on February 3, 2016
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