Lewis Hamilton says his Singapore Grand pole position lap, which smashed the previous lap record by more than three seconds, "felt like magic".
The Mercedes driver posted the lap, a 1:36.015, on his first attempt in Q3 and it proved unbeatable as nearest championship rival Sebastian Vettel could only get to within six-tenths of it.
Speaking immediately after the session, Hamilton said he was "overwhelmed" by the lap and admitted he couldn't remember a better lap in his career.
"Wow, that was a hard qualifying session," said the Briton. "That lap felt like magic.
"I don’t really know where it came from but it came together.
"Naturally I want to say a big thank you to all the team back at the factory as everyone is working so hard to pull out little extra bits and today I just managed to get it just right for that one lap."
He added: "Singapore is a beautiful track and honestly I am super overwhelmed, my heart is racing, I might have an anxiety attack in a second!
"Honestly I don’t think there was a moment that was wide or with any problems it was just perfectly to the limit. It felt like one of the best laps that I remember feeling."
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff praised Hamilton's ability: "It’s stardust… I can’t explain what happened on that lap. He’s just an exceptional individual and an exceptional driver.
"Ferrari had the form in the past years, but we’ve found out how to set the car up so thank you to all the guys back in the UK because it’s working now.
"Tyres are no silver bullet, but it’s just a few things we’ve understood since Spa in where we’ve got our advantage from."
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