Hamilton starts Singapore Grand Prix on pole, Fernando Alonso starts from fifth place

Lewis Hamilton insisted this week that McLaren were still “1,000 per cent” behind him, despite all the frenzied speculation linking him with a possible switch to Mercedes.

On Saturday, beneath the glare of 1,500 halogen lamps, with Singapore’s 30C heat firmly on both him and the team, he demonstrated once again why it would be such a huge gamble from both sides to allow their partnership to end.

Hamilton’s 24th career pole, his third in his last four races, was not just dominant, it was truly imperious.

No one could match him. Not his team mate, Jenson Button, who could only take fourth on the grid, six tenths off Hamilton’s pace; nor Red Bull’s double world champion Sebastian Vettel, who may well have the fastest car around this circuit but who was unable to respond to Hamilton’s stunning lap, set early in Q3, and ended up third on the grid.

Are McLaren really prepared to let that raw speed walk out the door for the sake of a few million quid? Team principal Martin Whitmarsh all but admitted this week that Hamilton has been offered a reduction in his £15 million per year salary.

And is Hamilton really prepared to give up his seat at a team who have just taken four consecutive poles for the first time this century?