2012 SINGAPORE GP: FRIDAY RESULTS

World champion Sebastian Vettel set the pace in the opening practice for the Singapore Grand Prix as he and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton were separated by less than a tenth. The two championship protagonists ended the first 90 minutes nearly a second faster than Jenson Button and Ferrari's points leader Fernando Alonso. Pastor Maldonado was an encouraging fifth fastest for Williams ahead of Mark Webber in the second Red Bull. Both Force India's impressed, with Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta seventh and eighth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso and Sergio Perez's "unstably handling" Sauber. Heavy early morning rain set the tone for the start of the session on the Marina Bay circuit, which was still significantly damp when free practice began.  
FIRST FREE PRACTICE

Pos       Driver                Team              Time       Gap   Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1:50.566           24
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1:50.615  + 0.049  15
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1:51.459  + 0.893  17
 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1:51.525  + 0.959  20
 5.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1:51.576  + 1.010  20
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1:51.655  + 1.089  19
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1:51.658  + 1.092  24
 8.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1:51.943  + 1.377  21
 9.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:52.275  + 1.709  24
10.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1:52.296  + 1.730  19
11.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1:52.629  + 2.063  25
12.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1:52.716  + 2.150  16
13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1:52.839  + 2.273  23
14.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes AMG          1:52.986  + 2.420  21
15.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1:53.028  + 2.462  20
16.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1:53.080  + 2.514  17
17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:53.189  + 2.623  25
18.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes AMG          1:53.227  + 2.661  25
19.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1:54.908  + 4.342  20
20.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1:55.091  + 4.525  16
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1:55.335  + 4.769  22
22.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1:55.760  + 5.194  22
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1:56.656  + 6.090  21
24.  Ma Qing  Hua          HRT-Cosworth          1:58.053  + 7.487  20

Sebastian Vettel emphasised his FP1 pace in Singapore by going fastest again in the second free practice session at Marina Bay. The world champion, who has endured a tough sequence of grand prix weekends in terms of pace recently broken only by his attrition-assisted second place in Belgium, looked rapid throughout Friday. In the end Vettel recorded a time more than three tenths faster than his nearest rival - Jenson Button's McLaren. Fernando Alonso was third quickest for Ferrari ahead of Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Force India's impressive Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg. The first of the updated Mercedes W03s was eighth fastest in the hands of Nico Rosberg, while Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean completed the top ten. The second session, which ran entirely under dry conditions, burst into life quickly and it was the two McLarens of Hamilton and Button that set the early pace on the soft tyres. 
SECOND FREE PRACTICE

Pos      Driver               Team                Time       Gap    Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1:48.340            27
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1:48.651  + 0.311   24
 3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1:48.896  + 0.556   26
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1:48.964  + 0.624   26
 5.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1:49.086  + 0.746   28
 6.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1:49.300  + 0.960   30
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1:49.339  + 0.999   31
 8.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes AMG          1:49.790  + 1.450   32
 9.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1:50.039  + 1.699   28
10.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1:50.161  + 1.821   23
11.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes AMG          1:50.263  + 1.923   23
12.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1:50.345  + 2.005   24
13.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1:50.636  + 2.296   32
14.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:50.791  + 2.451   26
15.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1:51.122  + 2.782   28
16.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1:51.450  + 3.110   21
17.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1:51.452  + 3.112   11
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:52.004  + 3.669   31
19.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1:52.218  + 3.878   29
20.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1:52.576  + 4.236   27
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1:52.863  + 4.523   27
22.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1:52.936  + 4.596   25
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1:54.448  + 6.108   25
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1:54.514  + 6.174   30