Singapore GP – Free Practice 1: Hamilton ahead of Vettel and Webber

With a half-hour delay, the first free practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix finally begins, due to repairs made on the track, particularly at turn No. 14, where a curb was in poor condition, revealing nails and significantly increasing the risk of punctures for the drivers. Ultimately, the officials decided to account for the half-hour delay. This means that the first free practice session will only last one hour.

The drivers set off at dusk! A slight scare for Glock who runs straight at the Stadium and turns around: « The brakes are new » his engineer informs him. At Ferrari, aerodynamic tests are carried out using the famous fluorescent yellow liquid that helps analyze airflow on aerodynamic appendages. All the drivers complete their installation lap calmly, despite the reduced session time. At Virgin, some agitation: Timo Glock’s « new » brakes were not working, and the Russian team will have to change them.

Very little action as only 48 minutes remain. Nico Rosberg is set to complete the first flying lap of the session, but hindered by a Sauber, he only manages a 1:57.351. Bruno Senna goes straight at the infamous “Singapore Sling” chicane to avoid the dangerously sharp curbs. Schumacher posts a 1:55.827 and takes the lead in these FP1s. Times are coming in, but Schumacher remains at the top with forty minutes to go. Narain Karthikeyan participates in this free practice session in place of Vitantonio Liuzzi to prepare for the Indian Grand Prix he will race in front of his home crowd. Up front, things are changing: Massa takes the lead with a 1:52.043, ahead of Webber by six-tenths. Vettel enters the fray and steadily climbs up the standings.

As Webber was behind a Virgin, he attempted to overtake it in the corner before the straight, but the two men collided: Webber lost part of his front wing while Glock suffered a right rear puncture. Debris is littered across the track just before the pit line. Red flag on the session! Not because of the debris, but due to the Team Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen whose front carbon brakes are literally burning: flames are coming out of the brake ducts. The track marshals are quick to react and manage to control the start of the fire. The Team Lotus is pushed into the escape lane. So many brake problems at the start of this session among the smaller teams.

A little more time lost in this first free practice session, which resumes for twenty-eight minutes. It should be noted that at this stage, neither Kobayashi, nor Trulli, nor Alonso, nor Hamilton, nor Button have completed a timed lap. The first three are addressing this, but the McLaren drivers remain in the garage for now. At Ferrari, Alonso has a slight problem and cannot complete the flying lap in which he seemed set to overtake his teammate, who still leads with twenty minutes to go. Jenson Button takes the lead with a time of 1:50.952, but Vettel improves with a 1:50.082 shortly after.

Like any urban circuit, Singapore is a dirty track, and the current times are far from last season’s performances where Alonso secured pole position with a 1:45 lap. However, Vettel continues to improve with a 1:49.656, while Webber takes second place more than a second behind his teammate. Trulli loses a part of his car, and Alguersuari gets a scare as Hamilton brushes close to the walls to set the best time at 1:49.515. But it’s the relentless Vettel who dethrones him with a 1:49.005, effortlessly, as the track improves and night falls. Alonso, currently second to last, comes out of the pits with ten minutes remaining in the session. He grabs the fourth best time. Hamilton retakes the lead with a 1:48.599 as Vettel has returned to the pits.

New red flag in this session: this time it’s not for an issue with an F1 car but once again for a recalcitrant curb at turn 8. A screw or nail is sticking out and could cause serious problems. The problematic curb is removed, and the session can resume for… three minutes.

Kobayashi is the first to go back on track, followed by a pack of 17 cars that will try to battle it out. Among the headliners, only Hamilton hasn’t come back out. Vettel, Webber, and Button do not improve, so it is the Briton who wins this first session.

Results of Free Practice 1 of the Singapore Grand Prix: