MARINA BAY, Singapore -- Lewis Hamilton's pole position lap at the Singapore Grand Prix represents a significant breakthrough for Mercedes, according to team boss Toto Wolff.
Mercedes has historically struggled for performance at Singapore, and ahead of the race weekend was viewed as the underdog in the fight against Ferrari. But on Saturday night, Hamilton took pole position by over 0.3s from Red Bull's Max Verstappen with Sebastian Vettel 0.6s off in the Ferrari in third.
Wolff said the result was partly down to Hamilton's exceptional lap but also a result of the team getting on top of the traction and tyre issues it had at the Belgian Grand Prix last month.