Hamilton gains pole post; Button's down

SINGAPORE – Lewis Hamilton of McLaren took pole position Saturday for Sunday’s Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, while championship leader Jenson Button had a “disastrous” qualifying session.

Button will start from 12th, behind even his Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello, who finished fifth despite a late crash but was demoted five spots to 10th for having made a gearbox change.

The Brawn woes were good news for Red Bull, the only team that can catch Brawn in the championship standings. Sebastian Vettel will begin second and Mark Webber from fourth.

Button made an error late in the second qualifying session, locking his breaks after the bottom of his car touched the bumpy track, damaging his tires and ruining his flying lap.

“It’s not good, it’s disastrous really,” Button said. “Around here you can’t overtake so it’s very disappointing. I’m worried that I am not going to be able to get any points. It’s pretty bad for the championship.”

Hamilton had the fastest lap of 1 minute, 47.891 around the Marina Bay circuit. It was the 16th pole of his career, and third in four races.

The Briton was eager to perform well to compensate for his crash on the last lap of the Italian Grand Prix, which cost McLaren a podium finish.

“I was very hard on myself after the last race which was well deserved,” Hamilton said. “I would like to lift myself back up, lift the team back up and give an apology to the team with a good result. (AP)