Vettel fastest in turbulent practice for Singapore race

By Kai Portmann Sep 23, 2011, 15:29 GMT

Singapore - Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel on Friday set the pace in a turbulent free practice for the Singapore Formula One night Grand Prix, as the Red Bull driver aims to secure back-to-back titles on the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Poised to become the youngest F1 driver to defend his crown, the 24-year-old German registered the fastest lap time of 1 minute 46.374 seconds for the bumby 5.07-kilometre course, after coming in second in the opening practice earlier.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, his closest rival in the drivers' standings, was second in the later session, 0.201 seconds behind Vettel, following a fourth spot in the first practice.

Despite stamping his authority on the practice sessions, Vettel played down his performance.

'We had no problems,' he said. 'The feeling in the car was alright.'

'It's Friday, and we still have a lot of work to do,' said Vettel.

'We still have to make a good step overnight,' said the title holder. 'It looked pretty tight out there today, so we need to wait and see.'

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, ranked first in the opening practice, came in third in the evening session, followed by Felipe Massa of Ferrari.

Vettel's Australian teammate Mark Webber was fifth fastest, while Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher had to settle for sixth spot, more than 2 seconds behind the leader.

Both practice sessions were spiced up by incidents.

The first session was delayed 30 minutes and cut from 90 to 60 minutes due to the need for track repairs after new temporary kerbs were found to be dislodged in some corners.

The session was stopped temporarily when a front brake on Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus caught fire and had to be extinguished by track marshals.

Ten minutes from the end, the red flag to came out again after Ferrari's Massa ran wide.

Massa's mishap dislodged another kerbing bolt which stood proud, just waiting to catch somebody's tyre, before track workers fixed it.

In the evening practice, McLaren's Jenson Button had to park his car after encountering technical problems, while Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso was forced to retire early after his car touched a wall.

Bidding for his ninth win of the season, Vettel is going into the Singapore floodlight race with 284 points, well ahead of Alonso with 172.

If all goes his way in Singapore, the German will be assured his second world championship ahead of the final five races.

Alonso would have to win at least four races and pick up 13 points from the other two races to win a third championship with Vettel finishing outside the points in six consecutive races.

Behind Alonso, Red Bull's Webber and McLaren's Button are currently level on 167 points in the drivers' championship, with Hamilton another nine points adrift.

A third practice session is set for Saturday, followed by qualifying in the late evening.

While the skies stayed clear on Friday, Singapore's National Environment Agency for both Saturday and Sunday forecast rainshowers with thunder.

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