(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Lewis Hamilton laid down an early marker that he will be the man to beat in the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend when he set the fastest time in the second free practice session at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit yesterday.
The Briton, who trails Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by 22 points with six rounds remaining, clocked one minute 47.490 seconds to edge out the resurgent Ferrari of Fernando Alonso by just 0.133 seconds around the 23-turn, 5.065km track.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line in a time of 1:47.790 to claim the third fastest time of the day, with the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen edging out quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel to round out the top five.
Vettel, who has dominated this race for the last three years, had his track time compromised after an engine failure at the end of first free practice restricted the German to just eight minutes of action at the end of the second session.
Championship leader Rosberg was unable to set a quick time in the second session after Pastor Maldonado crashed his Lotus into the Turn 10 wall, forcing a brief halt to proceedings just as the German was about to embark on his flying lap.
He eventually finished down in 13th but will look back at his third place in the first 90-minute session of the day as a more reliable marker to his speed and form ahead of the weekend.
Hamilton will be happy to have carried the momentum from his victory in the last round at Monza forward to Singapore, but Alonso had reason to feel delighted after a productive day helped to lift the gloom around his struggling team.
The Spaniard started the day on a positive note by clocking the fastest time in first free practice when all the drivers used the soft 'prime' tyres, which were around one-and-a-half seconds a lap slower than the supersoft 'option' tyres used in the later session.
The Italian giants have endured a miserable campaign to date and are without a win since last year, having changed principal mid-season and witnessed the resignation of long-time chairman Luca di Montezemolo shortly after their home race at Monza.
However, double world champion Alonso roared to a best time of one minute and 49.056 seconds around a circuit where the Spaniard has won twice before - in 2008 and 2010.
Alonso is looking to help Ferrari back to third place in the constructors' championship after he suffered a first retirement of the season in Italy and saw the team slip to fourth behind the resurgent Williams team.
There was a more relaxed mood in the paddock after Formula One earlier announced a softening of a planned clampdown on radio race assistance due to be brought in for this race.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.