Sebastian Vettel garnered the top spot in second practice in Singapore on Friday.
The reigning champion secured a best lap of 1:46.374 around the streets of Marina Bay – some two-tenths quicker than next up Fernando Alonso.
Consecutive long stints for the German assured that he also ran the greatest distance over the ninety-minute session. At 33 laps, Vettel ran just longer than half-race distance, with only Adrian Sutil (Force India), Bruno Senna (Renault) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams) running similar length stints.
As for Alonso, failure of the telemetry system on his Ferrari would lose the Spaniard precious time at the beginning of practice. Undeterred by the delay, Alonso, set his fastest during a brief four-lap qualifying simulation.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton also lost a deal of time in the first-third of practice. Issues with his pedal set-up kept the Englishman at bay for the opening portion, but would have to settle for a quickest tour at 1:47.115 come the chequered flag.
Hamilton pipped the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa by 0.005 of-a-second, with Mark Webber in the other Red Bull a further 0.145 in arrears.
On the edge of the top ten, Jenson Button had a less fruitful session in the sister McLaren – the Briton outbroke himself in turn 14, unable to select reverse gear and stalling shortly afterward.
Michael Schumacher was the best of the rest in 6th; however the veteran’s turquoise and silver Mercedes ended the day an alarming two seconds off of Vettel’s pace.
Next up in 7th was Sutil, four-tenths slower than Schumacher. Sutil’s teammate Paul di Resta endured a tough evening – a hydraulic brake issue ensuring the young Scot only managed eight laps before the close of running.
Sergio Perez led the Sauber’s in 8th, yet it was Kamui Kobayashi in 9th that supplied the fireworks thanks to an exuberant leap over the turn 10 kerbs, drawing the C30 into a temporary flight.
Jaime Alguersuari grabbed 11th – the highest placed Toro Rosso driver in what turned out to be a difficult session for the Italian squad. Mechanical gremlins sidelined the Spaniard after sixty minutes, but not before teammate Sebastien Buemi planted his STR6 into the turn twenty-one’s enchanting wall.
The Renault’s pair took 12th and 14th respectively, with Bruno Senna the quicker of the pair, although Vitaly Petrov lost the final section of practice due to a KERS failure.
Closer to the rear of the field, larger brake ducts were the order of the day at Lotus following Heikki Kovalainen impressive fire in the opening practice. The Finn’s best of 1:51.950 was good enough for 18th, albeit 5.576 seconds slower than Vettel.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m46.374s 33 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m46.575s + 0.201 28 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m47.115s + 0.741 22 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m47.120s + 0.746 23 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m47.265s + 0.891 28 6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m48.418s + 2.044 27 7. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m48.866s + 2.492 32 8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m49.578s + 3.204 27 9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m49.730s + 3.356 29 10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m49.751s + 3.377 10 11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.792s + 3.418 14 12. Bruno Senna Renault 1m50.241s + 3.867 31 13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m50.345s + 3.971 8 14. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m50.399s + 4.025 29 15. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m50.790s + 4.416 28 16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m50.897s + 4.523 24 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m50.937s + 4.563 30 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m51.950s + 5.576 26 19. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m52.257s + 5.883 15 20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m52.489s + 6.115 25 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m53.579s + 7.205 25 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m54.649s + 8.275 25 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m54.754s + 8.380 29 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m55.198s + 8.824 26
