2011 Singapore Grand Prix (Rd 14, Free Practice 2, Sept 23rd, TV Notes)

Marina Bay circuit. © Creative Commons / Readro

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

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