Free 1: Sebastian Vettel fastest after opening practice at Singapore

Sebastian Vettel has begun the Singapore Grand Prix weekend in fine form, ending the opening practice session the weekend fastest for Red Bull. The German was followed home by the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, as the Formula 1 paddock prepares for the glorious Singapore Grand Prix.

For the second race weekend in succession, HRT’s development driver Ma Qing Hua was in the car for the opening practice session of the weekend. The Chinese driver was once again replacing Narain Karthikeyan, who will naturally return for the second session later this afternoon. Sebastian Vettel’s new helmet design raised many eyebrows within the paddock, with unique LED lights flickering at the top of the new design.

As the session got underway, Sergio Perez became the first driver to take to the Marina Bay street circuit, with the intermediate tyre on his Sauber. With the track still damp in places, the majority of the drivers opted for the intermediate Pirelli tyre with some even deciding to use the full wet tyre. In traditional Friday practice fashion, the majority of the field completed installation laps before returning to the safe and dry confines of the pits.

Timo Glock became the first driver to set a timed lap in the early stages of the session, with a 02:24.476 in his Marussia. However, as the track continued to dry out and more drivers began taking to the track, the times quickly began to improve. Jean-Eric Vergne showed this by setting a 02:09.854, which he was able to improve on with a 02:04.866 next time around. The returning Romain Grosjean then went fastest, before Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg both momentarily went fastest, all still using Pirelli’s intermediate tyre compound.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso then shot to the top of the timing sheets, before the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi became one of the first drivers to opt for the dry tyres, and went immediately fastest with a 02:01.030. The Japanese driver then quickly improved once again with a 01:55.651, visibly showing that the dry tyres were the way ahead in the opening session with the track practically dry.

Kamui Kobayashi continued to set fastest times at the top before the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg set a 01:53.416, as the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Schumacher began to set competitive lap times. However, the Mercedes’ reign was short-lived as Kimi Raikkonen went fastest with a 01:53.268 as the Finn strives for yet another competitive race result this weekend.

The other Sauber of Sergio Perez monetarily went fastest before reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel asserted his authority over proceedings with a 01:51.968. With many predicting Red Bull to be competitive once again this weekend, a second consecutive victory for the outfit could be on the cards come Sunday. However, the Williams of Pastor Maldonado immediately stormed to the top of the timing sheets with a 01:51.576, as the Venezuelan driver searches for his first points finish since his glorious victory at the Spanish Grand Prix back in May.

Sebastian Vettel returned to the top of the timing sheets only moments later with a 01:51.367, after nearly making contact with the wall of the exit of turn 19. The Red Bull driver has only won one race so far this season, and will certainly be eager to score a competitive result after his DNF at Monza last time out. Lewis Hamilton showed he is most certainly in contention for the win this weekend, as the Briton stormed to the top with a 01:51.172. However, the McLaren drivers’ reign was quickly brought to an end as Sebastian Vettel once again flew to the top with a 01:50.566.

As the session drew to a close, both Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean made minor and separate mistakes as they began to push to the limits of the track. Sergio Perez also ran wide at turn 9, in similar fashion to Maldonado earlier in the session. Lots of drivers also ran wide at turn the tricky turn 10, which has recently been renamed the ‘Singapore Sling’.

However, Sebastian Vettel remained atop the timing sheets as the session came to an end under the floodlights. The predicted rain failed to materialize, allowing the drivers to complete valuable dry running for the majority of the session. The teams and drivers will return to the Marina Bay street circuit later this afternoon, as they continue to prepare for this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.

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