Formula One news
Vettel fastest in second Singapore session
25 September 2009 / Results / PhotosRed Bull Racing experienced a bittersweet second practice in Singapore on Friday evening as Sebastian Vettel stole the top spot from 2008 winner Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber did not have such a positive nightfall, however, as the Australian lost control and crashed into the pit wall with just under an hour still to go.
With the last of the sunshine having left Singapore at approximately 7pm, spectators were able to fully enjoy the track's spectacular lighting system as Friday's second 90-minute practice session began at 9:30pm. With no natural light, track and air temperatures remained identical for the duration of the session, at figures of 30°C (86°F).
With rain - which has been forecast for both Saturday and Sunday - not arriving, all drivers did have to contend with a fine powder of construction dust which significantly lowered levels of grip all around the circuit.
 |
| Vettel has already analysed every inch of the 3.15-mile circuit |
After Rubens Barrichello retained his strong form to lead the evening's first session from Brawn team-mate Jenson Button, it was Sebastian Vettel's turn to top the timesheets with the weekend's best lap time so far of 1:48.650. This attempt was almost three tenths of a second quicker than the hard-charging Fernando Alonso, as the 2008 winner does his best to put Renault's recent run of bad events behind him.
Heikki Kovalainen again showed strong pace for McLaren to be the leading KERS car in third, in front of Nick Heidfeld's BMW and six places ahead of World Champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Brawn's session most likely featured the two cars carrying heavier fuel loads than the majority as championship leader Button and team-mate Barrichello wound up fifth and eleventh respectively.
 |
| Fisichella's struggles appear to be continuing at Ferrari |
The night soon become a nightmare for Mark Webber, however, as the Queanbeyan star dropped his car exited the last corner to spear into the pit wall. With left-front damage sustained, the Red Bull driver's session was over prematurely after setting fastest times. Mark remained sixth at the end of the session, despite missing the final 55 minutes.
Force India could not maintain its pace of low downforce tracks such as Spa and Monza and - on a track which sees greater downforce levels than even Monaco - Adrian Sutil, who suffered a spin, and Vitantonio Liuzzi finished the night 12th and 18th. Jaime Alguersuari completed the field behind Romain Grosjean, whose Renault ironically met the controversial Turn 17 wall in the first session.
The third and final practice period of the weekend commences on Saturday at 7pm local time in Singapore (BST +7 / GMT +8) and can be followed live on GPUpdate.net.
more news
- 28 Nov.
- 27 Nov.
- 26 Nov.
- 25 Nov.
- 24 Nov.
- 23 Nov.
Homepage
Jerez