Enstone-based Renault F1 team driver Fernando Alonso was the big loser in qualifying for F1's first night race.
The Spanish double world champion had topped the pracie timesheets and looked set for a front-row slot when car problems dropped him out of contention.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa produced a superb late lap to snatch pole position for Sunday's historic Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
The Brazilian clocked a time of one minute 44:519 seconds under the flood lights on the Marina Bay street circuit to finish sixth-tenths of a second faster than McLaren's Hamilton.
Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, despite enduring a frustrating time during practice, finished strongly to take third.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica will start in fourth place on the grid, while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen is in fifth.
"The car was perfect," said Massa. "I managed to do a perfect lap."
Both the Grove-built AT&T Williams cars of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajim qualified in the top ten.
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