Against all odds, Lewis Hamilton delivered one of the most memorable pole laps in Formula 1 history.

On September 15th, 2018, at the Marina Bay Circuit, Formula 1 witnessed one of the most iconic laps in recent history. Lewis Hamilton pulled a pole position out of his own brilliance, leaving his rivals with no room to respond. Speechless.

Precisely at that circuit, Mercedes’ performance prior to qualifyiing offered little hope of a standout result. Yet on his very first Q3 run, Lewis Hamilton appeared from nowhere to shatter every expectation and jolt the championship.

That lap was one of the wildest in the sport’s history.

“That lap felt like magic. I don’t really know where it came from. ”

— Lewis Hamilton after qualifying.

Marina Bay: A Nightmare for Mercedes

Seven years earlier, the Silver Arrows arrived in Singapore on the back of a rough run, with little confidence to draw on. It was Mercedes’ bogey track.

In 2015, the second year of the hybrid era, they qualified only fifth and sixth, 1.5 seconds off pole. In the race, Rosberg could manage no better than fourth, while Hamilton was forced to retire due to power unit issues.

In 2016, despite Nico’s victory and Lewis’s third place, both had to work harder than expected under pressure from Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Räikkönen, who finished second and fourth, respectively.

And in 2017, nothing changed: fifth and sixth in qualifying.

And in 2017, nothing changed. Fifth and sixth place in the standings. However, the race got off to a very eventful start. The incident between the two Ferraris and Max, followed by Vettel's spin, allowed Hamilton to take the lead after a great start and lead from the very first meters, securing his third victory on this track.

In 2018, everything seemed to repeat itself

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton did not lead any of the free practice sessions. In FP2, they were 11 thousandths of a second behind Räikkönen's time, but everything pointed to Red Bull and Ferrari being the big favorites after leading FP1 and FP3 with a one-two finish.

Qualifying changes everything: the magic begins

It didn’t begin on a high note.

Mercedes took a big risk in Q1. They decided to run ultrasoft tires on both cars instead of the hypersofts, which were better for one-lap performance. With the track improving more than expected, Hamilton and Bottas ended up perilously close to the elimination zone: 14th and 12th.

Q2 was a different story—things went back to normal. The Silver Arrows built momentum, going from strength to strength and finishing third and fourth, right on the cusp of pole pace.

We head into Q3, the final round of qualifying—the moment of the weekend.

All the drivers — except Grosjean, who only had a single attempt at the very end — launched into their first hot laps.

And in that very moment, under the lights of Singapore’s streets, Lewis Hamilton let his talent — the magic in his hands — shine to show who was likely to own the championship by season’s end.

The lap time: 1:36.015, a new circuit record.

A lap three seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel’s pole from the previous year: 1:39.491.

His rivals had no answer.

There were no improvements on the second runs. Beyond Räikkönen and Ricciardo — whose first laps were very poor — the real front-running threats couldn’t go any faster, not even Hamilton himself. His lap was unbeatable — even for him.

Max Verstappen — running with a detuned engine due to power cuts — ended up second, just over three tenths back; Vettel — Hamilton’s title rival — and Bottas were more than six tenths down; Räikkönen over seven tenths; and Ricciardo almost a full second off pole.

Reactions after qualifying

Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal: “The most epic lap I can remember. Stardust. I can’t explain what happened on that lap.”

“It will go down in the history books,” he said, according to ESPN.

I couldn't agree with you more, Toto.

“Honestly, this feels like a victory. The amount of problems I had today, even in qualifying with the engine, to be second is unbelievable.”

— Max Verstappen

“It was a bit of a messy qualifying session, but in the end there was too much time missing so no better than third.”

— Sebastian Vettel

“That’s the lap of the season”

— Martin Brundle, Sky Sports commentator

“That could be a championship-winning lap from Hamilton”

— Paul Di Resta, former Sky Sports

The turning point of the championship

The Singapore Grand Prix was a psychological blow for Sebastian Vettel who, a month and a half later, acknowledged that what happened at Marina Bay was the big turning point of the season: “Since then we didn’t have the pace to stay with them for a couple of races.”

Sebastian lost a major chance to claw back some of the points spilled after his big mistake on the opening lap at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza —, in a duel with the British driver.

Following his victory, Hamilton extended his lead in the championship to 40 points and received his well-deserved end-of-season award: his fifth title.

This is Lewis Hamilton

What we witnessed in 2018 is the version that truly shows who Lewis Hamilton is. A driver capable of going beyond logic and breaking it into pieces.

Seven years on, the onboard from that pole is still hypnotic. Watching a world champion of his calibre giving his all on one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar is a blessing.

To take pole under those circumstances, on a weekend that seemed to promise more suffering, is not something just anyone can do. Not even Mercedes—nor Hamilton himself—could offer a logical explanation for that lap.

Only the greatest figures in history are capable of such feats, and, whether you like it or not, Lewis is one of them.

We need him to get back to his best. F1 needs him.

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