Lewis Hamilton has failed to equal Ayrton Senna's all-time record of eight consecutive pole positions as he succumbed to a fifth-place finish at Singapore Grand Prix qualifying.

Sebastian Vettel, top of the standings after the final practice, came out on top again with a time of 1:43.885, 1.4s faster than Hamilton's effort.

Daniil Kyvat had earlier repeated his second practice success by finishing fastest in the first stage of qualifying.

Jenson Button edged into the second part of qualifying by finishing 15th, while Manor Marussia's dreadful weekend continued as Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi were eliminated in 19th and 20th place respectively.

However, McLaren's struggles throughout the practice sessions continued into qualifying as both Button and teammate Fernando Alonso were eliminated before the final stage.

Despite initially setting personal bests in second qualifying, things were not looking great for Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by the end of the stage after a yellow flag for Carlos Sainz ultimately left them 0.9s off the pace heading into the final part of the day.

Hamilton's misery was completed in the third stage when he had to abort his lap after clipping the kerb at turn seven as Vettel edged out Daniel Ricciardo and his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen to secure pole.

1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
4. Daniil Kyvat (Red Bull)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
7. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
8. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso)
9. Felipe Massa (Williams)
10. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
11. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
12. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
13. Sergio Perez (Force India)
14. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)
15. Jenson Button (McLaren)
16. Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
17. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
18. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus)
19. Will Stevens (Marussia)
20. Alexander Rossi (Marussia)