Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

The result of the Singapore F1 race :

1. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing :
2. Jenson Button : McLaren : + 8.959 59
3. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : + 15.227 59
4. Paul di Resta : Force India : + 19.063 59
5. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : + 34.759 59
6. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : + 35.700 59
7. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : + 36.600 59
8. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : + 42.800 59
9. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : + 45.800 59
10. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : + 47.100 59
11. Sergio Perez : Sauber : + 50.600 59
12. Timo Glock : Marussia F1 Team : + 1 lap
13. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : + 1 lap
14. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:51.033 + 1 lap
15. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : + 1 lap
16. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : + 1 lap
17. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : + 1 lap
Did Not Finish :
18. Bruno Senna : Williams :
19. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham
20. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso
21. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP
22. Pastor Maldonado : Williams
23. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT F1 Team
24. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren
Fastest lap : Nico Hulkenberg
Pitstop Senna : DNF
D.S.L : 11

Comment of the Race :
Sebastian Vettel finally scored the second victory of his latest Formula 1 title defence in the Singapore Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver benefited from Lewis Hamilton's McLaren suffering a gearbox failure while holding a narrow lead. Jenson Button claimed second in the other McLaren, with Fernando Alonso's third place maintaining the Ferrari driver's world championship cushion. Front-row starter Pastor Maldonado had to retire with hydraulic failure having battled with Alonso for the final podium spot. Hamilton and Vettel ran in close company prior to the McLaren's problem, although the Briton seemed under control.
Third-placed Button fell away at first, before regaining some ground as he got better tyre longevity than those ahead. Vettel made his first pitstop two laps earlier than Hamilton, and though this initially looked costly as he dropped into time-consuming traffic, once he was in clear air his pace on fresh rubber was sufficient to make up all the time lost and keep him between the McLarens. That position became the race lead on lap 22, when Hamilton's car ground to a halt with a gearbox failure. Button then kept Vettel honest to the finish, without it ever looking like the Red Bull's lead was in jeopardy. By the end, Vettel had edged away into a very secure lead.
Vettel stayed cool through two mid-race safety car periods: the first for Narain Karthikeyan sliding his HRT into the barrels at the tunnel entrance, and the second when Michael Schumacher ploughed into Jean-Eric Vergne on the restart lap. Those cautions resolved the third-place battle. When Maldonado, who had fallen from second to fourth at the start, pitted for a second time under the first safety car, he rejoined 10th while Alonso stayed out and moved up to third. That decision probably secured the place for Ferrari even before Williams ordered Maldonado to retire with a hydraulic problem before the green.
Paul di Resta kept the frontrunners in sight throughout to score an excellent fourth for Force India, outpacing fifth-placed Mercedes man Nico Rosberg. Lotus salvaged sixth and seventh with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean on its least competitive weekend of 2012 so far.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa picked up a puncture on lap one, yet fought back impressively to secure eighth. On the way, he overtook Bruno Senna with an incredible move that saw him bounce off the Williams and the wall before arriving at Turn 13 sideways but in front. The safety car timing hurt Mark Webber's strategy, and the best he could manage was to battle through to 10th, right on Daniel Ricciardo's tail.
Among other incidents, Nico Hulkenberg clashed with both Saubers on consecutive laps late on, with Sergio Perez the only one involved to get away without having to pit for repairs.
Also notable was Timo Glock's 12th place, which moved Marussia ahead of Caterham in the constructors' standings.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

drivers standings after singapore gp

1 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 194
2 Sebastian Vettel German Red Bull Racing-Renault 165
3 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Lotus-Renault 149
4 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 142
5 Mark Webber Australian Red Bull Racing-Renault 133
6 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 119
7 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes 93
8 Romain Grosjean French Lotus-Renault 82
9 Sergio Perez Mexican Sauber-Ferrari 65
10 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 51
11 Paul di Resta British Force India-Mercedes 44
12 Michael Schumacher German Mercedes 43
13 Kamui Kobayashi Japanese Sauber-Ferrari 35
14 Nico Hulkenberg German Force India-Mercedes 31
15 Pastor Maldonado Venezuelan Williams-Renault 29
16 Bruno Senna Brazilian Williams-Renault 25
17 Jean-Eric Vergne French STR-Ferrari 8
18 Daniel Ricciardo Australian STR-Ferrari 6
19 Timo Glock German Marussia-Cosworth 0
20 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Caterham-Renault 0
21 Vitaly Petrov Russian Caterham-Renault 0
22 Jerome D'Ambrosio Belgian Lotus-Renault 0
23 Charles Pic French Marussia-Cosworth 0
24 Narain Karthikeyan Indian HRT-Cosworth 0
25 Pedro de la Rosa Spanish HRT-Cosworth 0

singapore gp results
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 59 2:00:26.144 3 25
2 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 59 +8.9 secs 4 18
3 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 59 +15.2 secs 5 15
4 11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 59 +19.0 secs 6 12
5 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 59 +34.7 secs 10 10
6 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 59 +35.7 secs 12 8
7 10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 59 +36.6 secs 8 6
8 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 59 +42.8 secs 13 4
9 16 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 59 +45.8 secs 15 2
10 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 59 +47.1 secs 7 1
11 15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 59 +50.6 secs 14
12 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 59 +91.9 secs 20
13 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 59 +97.1 secs 17
14 12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 59 +99.4 secs 11
15 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 59 +107.9 secs 19
16 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 59 +132.9 secs 21
17 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 58 +1 Lap 24
18 19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 57 +2 Lap 22
19 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 57 +2 Lap 18
Ret 17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 38 Accident 16
Ret 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 38 Accident 9
Ret 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 36 Hydraulics 2
Ret 23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 30 Accident 23
Ret 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 22 Gearbox 1
Note - De la Rosa and Senna dropped five grid spots for unscheduled gearbox changes. Pic had 20s added to his race time for passing under red flags in FP3.

Robert Doornbos 23rd September 1981
(Former driver of Minardi & Red Bull)
[hidden link - please register]
Happy Birthday to your 31st anniversary

One word - the Asian Monaco! The beginning of boring and uninteresting! 23 round - the problem with the box of the Lewis Hamilton! It is insulting to go from the road when you лидируешь! Again it was not without a safety car! Pastor Maldonado - technical problems! Schumacher - gathering!

What were they thinking
- Hamilton, while the gears did not respond to his commands
- Schumi, when he found himself in the ass of Vergne
- Button, when it was in danger of ending up in the ass of Vettel, under safety-car
- Alonso...Fernando, Domenicali, now ... what will you do????what are you thinking????

Newsflash :

Bruno Senna will have a 5 place penalty grid !!!!
Due to its collision with the wall during qualifying got the gearbox of Bruno Senna heavily damaged .Thereon it had to be replaced by the team for the race today.Senna qualified on the seventeenth place, but must now start from the 22th place.

Singapore has a new contract signed with Bernie Eccelstone , the race wil stay on the calendar til 2018 .

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Pastor Maldonado-the hero of the qualifying! Who will win - say hard!! Given that overtaking difficult here! And every time is not complete without the pace car !

If you are superstitious, and Alonso-fans, do not read any further .... You've been warned!!!

There is little to be confident in Alonso for tomorrow race, seeing the gaps in the qualifying. yet I feel that tomorrow will arrive on the podium, and not third ... This is simply because Alonso has the right mix between speed and cleanliness in the guide, and this, in a very complicated circuit, can be decisive.. Could be more with the entrance of the safety car, probable event for the few escape routes.. which could also modify the strategies of pit-stops, because the maximum speed in the pit lane here is only 60 km/h and not the usual 80; and so each stop requires about 30 seconds

Considering everything, I took the calculator, that it told me ... Alonso 1st or 2nd...probably because I feed my calculators with batteries and ferrari

The result of the qualifying are :

1. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 1:46.362 -
2. Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 1:46.804 + 0.442
3. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing : 1:46.905 + 0.543
4. Jenson Button : McLaren : 1:46.939 + 0.577
5. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1:47.216 + 0.854
6. Paul di Resta : Force India : 1:47.241 + 0.879
7. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : 1:47.475 + 1.113
8. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1:47.788 + 1.426
9. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP : no time set -
10. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : no time set -

Q2
11. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:47.975 + 1.613
12. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : 1:48.261 + 1.899
13. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1:48.344 + 1.982
14. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 1:48.505 + 2.143
15. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 1:48.774 + 2.412
16. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1:48.849 + 2.487
17. Bruno Senna : Williams : no time -

Q1
18. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 1:49.933 -
19. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham : 1:50.846 + 4.484
20. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 1:51.137 + 4.775
21. Timo Glock : Marussia F1 Team : 1:51.370 + 5.008
22. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : 1:51.762 + 5.400
23. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT F1 Team : 1:52.372 + 6.010
24. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : 1:53.355 + 6.993

Rain : no

Comment of the qualifying :
Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix with a brilliant lap of 1m46.362s, ahead of Williams driver Pastor Maldonado. It was the 24th pole of the McLaren driver's Formula 1 career, and the third in four races, as he put down the rising challenge of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, who had set the pace throughout the weekend until qualifying. It wasn't all plain sailing for the Briton, who brushed the wall on his quick lap - though apparently without damage. But it won't be the world champion Vettel that starts the grand prix at Marina Bay on the front row, as perhaps was expected, but Spanish Grand Prix winner Maldonado, who delivered a stunning (and surprising) lap to go second fastest ahead of Vettel. Jenson Button was fourth fastest ahead of points' leader Fernando Alonso and Paul di Resta in the rapid Force India. Mark Webber was seventh fastest for the moment, but that may change as the Australian is under investigation for allegedly impeding Timo Glock during Q1.Romain Grosjean, with what might have constituted the scruffiest lap of the season, was eighth fastest ahead of the two Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, who both declined to set a laptime in Q3. Grosjean, having set the fastest time of all in Q1, also tapped the wall with the rear of the car at Turn 14 at the beginning of Q2. The Lotus driver bounced back from his shunt though to go fourth fastest in Q2, behind Hamilton, Vettel and Webber. He wasn't the only one in the wall in that session. Bruno Senna hit the retainers at the penultimate corner, the same place he'd brushed in Q1, but this time he damaged his suspension and, unlike the Frenchman, would take no further part. It was the third time the Brazilian had been in the barrier over the weekend - and he starts Sunday's race 17th. Joining Senna on the Q2 fail list, but obviously starting ahead of him, were Nico Hulkenberg, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne. Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Massa in particular might have expected to progress further, but late laps from the Mercedes duo put paid to their hopes. With speculation surrounding Vitaly Petrov's future at Caterham, he put in a tremendous effort in Q1. For most of it he looked like he might outqualify Toro Rosso's Vergne and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi on merit to move into the second session.
But both of those drivers would eventually move ahead of the Russian, who lines up 20th for the race ahead of his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, as the Toro Rossos injected some super-soft pace at the crucial moment (Ricciardo was seventh fastest overall in Q1!). Kobayashi however was the star scalp dropped early as he was already in the pits when the Toro Rossos fired up the afterburners. The Japanese, let us not forget, was on the front row at Spa. Also worth mentioning was the fact that Narain Karthikeyan outqualified HRT team-mate Pedro de la Rosa for the second time in a row, and by nearly a second, as the pair occupied the last row of the grid.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Here are the times of the 3rd practice session that just ended under Red Flag ! :

1. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing : 1:47.947 -
2. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 1:48.272 + 0.325
3. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1:48.623 + 0.676
4. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:48.859 + 0.912
5. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : 1:48.865 + 0.918
6. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1:49.458 + 1.511
7. Paul di Resta : Force India : 1:49.684 + 1.737
8. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : 1:49.699 + 1.752
9. Bruno Senna : Williams : 1:49.715 + 1.768
10. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP : 1:49.981 + 2.034
11. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : 1:50.110 + 2.163
12. Jenson Button : McLaren : 1:50.524 + 2.577
13. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 1:50.664 + 2.717
14. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 1:50.777 + 2.830
15. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1:50.840 + 2.893
16. Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 1:51.012 + 3.065
17. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1:51.059 + 3.112
18. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 1:51.272 + 3.325
19. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : 1:52.290 + 4.343
20. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham : 1:53.781 + 5.834
21. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 1:54.326 + 6.379
22. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT F1 Team : 1:54.421 + 6.474
23. Timo Glock : Marussia F1 Team : 1:54.630 + 6.683
24. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : 1:54.875 + 6.928

Comment of the 3rd session :
Sebastian Vettel maintained his advantage over the field in Singapore, setting the fastest time again in an eventful final free practice session on the Marina Bay circuit. The German, who was quickest in both Friday sessions - having won from pole here last year – ended the hour more than three tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton's McLaren. Fernando Alonso was third fastest ahead of the continually impressive Nico Hulkenberg. Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were next up. Paul di Resta was seventh in the second Force India ahead of Nico Rosberg, Bruno Senna and Michael Schumacher. Initially it was the McLarens that had the pace in the 60-minute session, while the teams were still using prime tyres with first Hamilton, and then Button setting an early pace in the low 1m50s. Then halfway through the session, with Red Bull's Webber having given a hint of the RB8's pace by splitting the two McLarens, Vettel went out and was seven tenths up on Hamilton when he was forced to back off for the yellows in sector three. Those yellows were out for Timo Glock's stricken Marussia, the German having stamped on the brakes and dipped the clutch after his throttle stuck open.
The obstacle cleared, Vettel got straight back on it and became the first man to dip below the 1m50s barrier with a 1m49.614s. Alonso, having up to this point completed merely an install lap, then went second quickest joining Vettel in the 49s. Two thirds of the way through and Senna became the first man to try the supersofts, his flying lap putting him momentarily second on the board. With just over ten minutes to go, teams then began thinking about their qualifying session simulation fliers, and it was just then that Webber replicated Sergio Perez's earlier error and clouted the Armco under the tunnel at the entry left-hander.
Both the Sauber - which spent most of the session in the pits - and the Red Bull needed attention as Webber also picked up a puncture. With the last of the final yellow flags gone, Vettel emerged from the pits, having previously scattered photographers on the pitlane entry and seemingly suffering some KERS issues.
This time the German pulled out a stunning time of 1m47.947s, and that was that. No one got near it. Hamilton was closest, 0.325s behind the world champion.
But if anyone else had thoughts of a crack at Vettel's time, Vitaly Petrov denied them all by smacking the outside barrier at the penultimate corner in his Caterham, bringing out the red flags.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

not official but seems robert kubica next year will be the pirelli's text driver
if it will be welcome back to kubica in the f1 circus

Here's a link for the 3rd practice session that just started !

[hidden link - please register]

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

And the times of the 2nd practice session :

1. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing : 1:48.340 -
2. Jenson Button : McLaren : 1:48.651 + 0.311
3. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1:48.896 + 0.556
4. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : 1:48.964 + 0.624
5. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 1:49.086 + 0.746
6. Paul di Resta : Force India : 1:49.300 + 0.960
7. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:49.339 + 0.999
8. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : 1:49.790 + 1.450
9. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1:50.039 + 1.699
10. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1:50.161 + 1.821
11. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP : 1:50.263 + 1.923
12. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : 1:50.345 + 2.005
13. Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 1:50.636 + 2.296
14. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 1:50.791 + 2.451
15. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 1:51.122 + 2.782
16. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 1:51.450 + 3.110
17. Bruno Senna : Williams : 1:51.452 + 3.112
18. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1:52.009 + 3.669
19. Timo Glock : Marussia F1 Team : 1:52.218 + 3.878
20. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 1:52.576 + 4.236
21. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : 1:52.863 + 4.523
22. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham : 1:52.936 + 4.596
23. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : 1:54.448 + 6.108
24. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT F1 Team : 1:54.514 + 6.174

Comment of the 2nd session :
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. But just as in the first session, it was Vettel and Hamilton that began trading times at the top of the list. This continued until Bruno Senna lightly brushed his Williams against the outside wall at Turn 19. The incident may have been small, but the stranded car proved difficult to remove and necessitated a short red-flag period. When the session resumed, first Massa, and then Hamilton switched to the super-soft option tyre and shot ahead of Vettel and the rest.
The Englishman's 1m49.086s set the tone for what was to follow as the rest of the frontrunners switched to their option programmes. That prompted Webber to move to the front in the sister Red Bull car, only until Alonso's 1m48.896s bumped the Aussie down. Both were then dropped by Button's 1m48.651, before Vettel settled the matter for good with a 1m48.340s. The session then settled down into the usual game of cat and mouse as teams tried to evaluate their long run pace while at the same time masking it from their rivals.
Of the frontrunners, Hamilton and Raikkonen both looked rapid on heavy fuel, while Red Bull seemed happy with degradation level of Vettel's super-softs. Besides Senna's problem, there were no major incidents though once again several drivers rocked over the kerbs at Turn 10 and Perez (15th) ran on at Turn 4 without hitting anything. The Mexican's Sauber team-mate Kamui Kobayashi (16th) had a similar experience at Turn 1 and then spun at Turn 19 right at the flag drop.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Here are the time of the 1st practice session :

1. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing : 1:50.566 -
2. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 1:50.615 + 0.049
3. Jenson Button : McLaren : 1:51.459 + 0.893
4. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1:51.525 + 0.959
5. Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 1:51.576 + 1.010
6. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : 1:51.655 + 1.089
7. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:51.658 + 1.092
8. Paul di Resta : Force India : 1:51.943 + 1.377
9. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 1:52.275 + 1.709
10. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 1:52.296 + 1.730
11. Bruno Senna : Williams : 1:52.629 + 2.063
12. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : 1:52.716 + 2.150
13. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 1:52.839 + 2.273
14. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP : 1:52.986 + 2.420
15. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1:53.028 + 2.462
16. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1:53.080 + 2.514
17. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1:53.189 + 2.623
18. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : 1:53.227 + 2.661
19. Timo Glock : Marussia F1 Team : 1:54.908 + 4.342
20. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 1:55.091 + 4.525
21. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : 1:55.335 + 4.769
22. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham : 1:55.760 + 5.194
23. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : 1:56.656 + 6.090
24. Qing Hua Ma : HRT F1 Team : 1:58.053 + 7.487

Comment of the 1st session :
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. Unsurprisingly. it was a tentative first half hour's running with only Jean-Eric Vergne, Romain Grosjean, Pedro de la Rosa and Timo Glock setting times on intermediates.
Alonso ended up being the fastest man on the grooved Pirellis with a 2m01.573s before Kamui Kobayashi reset the reference with a time three second faster on a set of soft slicks. Kobayashi improved his time further and stayed top through the middle of the session, heading a timesheet that showed Mercedes's Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher - sporting the much-vaunted updated W03s - in second and third.
It wasn't long before Rosberg moved ahead, but as the session moved towards the hour mark, and more slick running occurred through the field, so the times tumbled. In the final 30 minutes there was a fascinating period of running when first Hamilton, and then Vettel went fastest and the pair traded times at the top of the leaderboard. Hamilton, who was one of several to clump over the kerbs at Turn 10 heavily, then ended his running in the pits some 10 minutes before the end of the session. No one else looked likely to challenge Vettel's 1m50.566s, though it was during this period that Button moved ahead of Alonso to go third.
There were no significant yellows, though several drivers shot off down escape roads – most notably Maldonado and Grosjean, who was 15th fastest on his return, three places behind Lotus team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Once again Hua Qing Ma did a steady job for HRT. On a less than grippy complicated street circuit the Chinese driver, standing in for Narain Karthikeyan, ended the session less than two seconds off the pace of Pedro de la Rosa on his first visit to the circuit.

Kind Regards
Shaky- Schumi