By Andy Hum

TWENTY SECONDS LEFT, and possibly the most exciting period of any race’s final qualifying session. It’s the time when wide-eyed spectators are forced to the edges of their seats, paying absolute attention to the screens and watching to see who has qualified at the top.

The accident, which occurred at Turn 5, before the drivers head onto the Raffles Boulevard section, was bad enough to break the Brazilian driver’s front left wheel off from its axle.

The qualifying session was subsequently red-flagged, with an impossible 20-plus seconds of it remaining, where drivers could still legally continue, although none would have been able to even complete one proper hot lap.

Barrichello, who had earlier swapped his gearbox, will incur a five-place penalty , and will therefore start the race from tenth place.

Hamilton took pole position, while young Germany, Sebasitan Vettel is in second place, followed by Nico Robserg,

1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 660.5kg
2. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull 651
3. Nico Rosberg, Williams 657.5
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 654.5
5. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 658
6. Timo Glock, Toyota, 660.5
7. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 650
8. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 664
9. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 664.5
10. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 655.5
11. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 680.7
12. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 683
13. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 680.5
14. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 678
15. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 690.9
16. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 693
17. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 683.5
18. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 678.5
19. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 683
20. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 656