Vettel tops Singapore practice as title draws near

 McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and world champion-elect Sebastian Vettel topped Friday’s running at Singapore’s Yas Marina circuit, the German setting the fastest lap of the day to boost his hopes of sealing a second successive world title this weekend.

First practice was a reduced to one hour of running due to track problems. Having becoming damaged during a support event session the turn 3 and 14 kerbs were badly in need of repairs; after track workers had attempted to find a solution it was decided to remove the offending kerbs altogether.

Hamilton was quickest in the opening session. He and Vettel swapped places at the front twice before the McLaren driver recorded a lap four-tenths quicker than the German’s best effort.

The session then saw another red flag as the turn 7 kerb began to disintegrate. Though the circuit would go green again for the final two minutes there would be little change at the front as the front runners shied away from the end-of-pitlane traffic jam.

Mark Webber was third for Red Bull, a full second shy of his team-mate, with two-time Singapore winner Fernando Alonso fourth quickest. Jenson Button (McLaren) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) were next up, with Adrian Sutil (Force India), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Paul di Resta (Force India) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes).

The session was also interrupted by a fire on Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus, the Finn again feeling the heat following his spectacular fire at last year’s event. Meanwhile Webber came together with Virgin's Timo Glock as the Australian tried to pass the German, damaging the Red Bull’s front wing in the process and leaving Glock with a puncture.

The second session was far less troubled. Run under Singapore’s stunning lights, it saw Vettel take his familiar place at the top of the timesheets, beating Ferrari star Alonso by two tenths.

Hamilton was third, 0.741s slower than Vettel with Massa fourth and showing good pace in his Ferrari. Webber was P5 whilst Schumacher continued his excellent recent form in sixth. Sutil was P7, with Sauber duo Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi and Button completing the top ten.

It was a difficult evening for 2009 champion Button. The Brit locked up and narrowly avoided the barriers at turn 14, ending his session and limiting him to to 10 laps. Elsewhere Sebastien Buemi – who is celebrating his 50th grand prix this weekend – made contact with the wall late on, badly damaging his Toro Rosso.

Action resumes with third practice tomorrow followed by qualifying and Sunday’s race.

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James Weeks