A reminder that F1 cars have never run in the rain under floodlights before...

It's raining harder now...

Uncharted territory.

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Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Singaore

Image source, Getty Images

Despite Mercedes’ general lack of pace, Lewis Hamilton was pleased with his own personal performance - after all, he was a chunky 0.7secs ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas. It was all a stark contrast with last year, when Hamilton didn't really turn up in Singapore and spent the weekend locking wheels and never settling on a decent set-up.

“While it doesn't really show, it was a really strong session for me. Generally qualifying has been really strong this year. And that qualifying session was just as strong as ones where I have qualified on pole. I got everything I could out of the car. They were very, very consistent laps, every lap was right on it, I didn't have mistakes that cost me a ton of time, so I was really, really happy with it. So while I’m not in the position I want to be in, I am generally very happy with my own performance. If I keep that then I know that when the car does come to us or a track comes to us hopefully I will be able to execute and the result will show it.” Bottas was struggling with a lack of rear grip and could not get near Hamilton all weekend. “I don’t go into the race with any great confidence about the pace we will have,” the Finn said.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Singaore

Behind the big three, it was the expected battle between Renault and McLaren for best of the rest and Nico Hulkenberg shaded it - to the great relief of everyone at Renault. The German’s race pace on Friday was second only to Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull and he very much did not want to get trapped behind a McLaren in the race. "It was an interesting fight and we set, and I personally had, that target (of beating McLaren),” said Hulkenberg. "I definitely was desperate to, very determined to be ahead of them and be P7. It was quite satisfying with the last lap to get them.”

Fernando Alonso felt he might have pipped Hulkenberg had his engine’s (mild) qualifying mode worked, but it didn’t. But the Spaniard was confident of giving Hulkenberg some grief in the race. “I will pass him at the start,” he said, smiling but probably not joking. “If not, we could fight with him in the race. It is a very unique circuit where the issues we normally have are less obvious. The pit stops will be the next opportunity if it’s not the start and we will put pressure, I’m sure.”

Image source, EPA

Tom Clarkson's podium prediction is below, but who do you think will be spraying the fizzy stuff later today?

Make your top-three selection here.

Image source, BBC Sport

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Singaore

“As advertised,” one Mercedes team member said after qualifying, reflecting the long-running belief in the team that they would struggle at Marina Bay, just as they have in the last two years, not withstanding Nico Rosberg’s victory last season. Boss Toto Wolff described it as “our yearly wake-up call”, adding: “We just need to continue to assess what is making our car perform less good compared to our enemies in Singapore.”

He said: “I still believe our concept is the right concept. we didn't have the difference in wheelbase last year and the year before and in 2014 and we always seemed to struggle particularly in Singapore. It’s like the years before, you just need to stay calm and assess what are the reasons for underperforming here. On the other hand, we are really out-performing everybody else in Monza and Silverstone and some other places so it is about finding the right compromise.”

Wolff accepted it was a race of damage limitation in the championship, but all might not be lost. “We are in a position that we don’t like to be with P5 and P6,” he said, “but this provides strategic opportunities. and our car was very good on the softs. So we’ve had a brief discussion before and it is quite interesting.”

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Singaore

Rain. Not torrential. But still, you know, wet