How Lewis Hamilton stunned the F1 paddock with his 2018 pole lap at Singapore after flying ‘25,000 miles’

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Lewis Hamilton’s pole position lap at the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix is regarded by some as the greatest qualifying lap in Formula 1 history, and journalist Rebecca Clancy has shared the context surrounding that race weekend at the Marina Bay street circuit that makes it all the more impressive.

As the record holder for the highest number of pole positions in Formula 1 history with 104 to his name, there’s no surprise that some of the best laps driven in anger within the sport have come from Lewis Hamilton.

After spending the first half of the season chasing Sebastian Vettel in both drivers’ hunts for a fifth world title, Hamilton finally claimed the upper hand over his championship rival following a mistake from the German driver at his home Grand Prix.

However, heading into the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix, the sentiment in the paddock was that Mercedes would struggle due to the nature of the circuit not suiting the characteristics of the Silver Arrows’ F1 car.

After a disappointing weekend for the Scuderia at Monza, which saw Hamilton reign supreme after Vettel and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row, the iconic Italian racing outfit viewed Singapore with optimism as they sought to bounce back.

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Lewis Hamilton shocked the F1 paddock with his pole lap at the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix

Speaking as part of BBC 5 Live’s coverage of FP2 at the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix, Rebecca Clancy shared the context surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s 2019 lap for her reasoning behind why it’s the best lap ever.

“Now, I disagree with this,” Clancy started, in response to a colleague’s argument over Leclerc’s 2019 lap being the best-ever qualifying lap in Singapore. “I think Hamilton’s 2018 lap was utterly, utterly incredible.

“I think you need to put it into context as well. It was at the time when he was doing all of his fashion stuff, music, and he had flown from London to New York to Shanghai, back to Singapore, and we’d worked it out the time, it was about 25,000 miles he had flown.

“We were all a bit sceptical. He arrived in Singapore on the Thursday. We did Media Day, and we were saying, ‘How are you feeling?’ And he looked a bit, you know, like he’d just flown 25,000 miles.

“And then he came out, and he did, what is, an absolutely, utterly, utterly brilliant lap, not just of his career, I think it’s right up there. And if you ever watch the onboard, it is amazing.”

The then-Mercedes driver went on to win the race after taking pole position to mark the last time Hamilton has won the Singapore Grand Prix.

The following edition of the race was taken by Vettel, with a podium finish in 2023 becoming Hamilton’s closest attempt at replicating the feat.

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Lewis Hamilton has failed to reach the same heights at Ferrari as the benchmarks he set at Mercedes

Since making his long-anticipated move to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season, Hamilton has failed to replicate any of his former feats at Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion is currently in the longest podium drought of his career, with Hamilton also setting a new record at Ferrari for the highest number of races without a top-three finish for the Prancing Horse.

The British driver’s last pole position came 805 days ago, at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s 104th pole position in the sport set a new record for the highest number of first-place starts at a single track with nine.

Singapore could prove to be a track where he can get out of his rut when considering that the street circuit often favours cars that aren’t as competitive at the more traditional circuits on the F1 calendar.

Hamilton’s victory in 2018 was also the last time a driver who won at the circuit also went on to win the drivers’ championship in the same year.