Webber leads damp Singapore practice

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Championship leader Mark Webber was fastest in first practice at Singapore.

The session started on a wet track and the championship contenders avoided the first hour of running as the track dried out, waiting until the later stages to set their first flying laps.

But despite the treacherous conditions all of the 24 drivers kept their cars out of the walls.

There were a few off-track moments for some drivers, including Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi. But even F1 debutant Jerome d’Ambrosio stayed out of trouble in his Virgin.

Webber snatched the fastest time with his last lap of the session, demoting Michael Schumacher from the top spot. The Mercedes driver logged 24 laps in his first session at Singapore.

Adrian Sutil moved up to third late in the session ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Jaime Alguersuari.

Felipe Massa was the only driver from the top three teams to go out early in the session when the track was at its wettest. His best time of 1’57.760 was set on intermediates while most other drivers used slicks for their final runs once the track had become dry enough.

Pos. Car Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 6 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1’54.589 10
2 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1’54.708 0.119 24
3 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1’54.827 0.238 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’55.137 0.548 12
5 17 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’55.160 0.571 20
6 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’55.333 0.744 12
7 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1’55.510 0.921 15
8 16 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’55.523 0.934 15
9 11 Robert Kubica Renault 1’55.672 1.083 11
10 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1’55.914 1.325 20
11 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’56.090 1.501 12
12 23 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1’56.339 1.750 22
13 22 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari 1’56.458 1.869 18
14 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’56.598 2.009 8
15 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1’56.603 2.014 12
16 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1’56.615 2.026 17
17 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1’56.840 2.251 14
18 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’56.884 2.295 9
19 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1’57.760 3.171 22
20 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1’59.034 4.445 19
21 25 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1’59.275 4.686 16
22 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1’59.783 5.194 23
23 20 Christian Klien HRT-Cosworth 2’03.424 8.835 17
24 18 Fairuz Fauzy Lotus-Cosworth 2’05.694 11.105 11

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    28 comments on “Webber leads damp Singapore practice”

    1. Hamish
      24th September 2010, 12:38

      Thats suprising from d’Ambrosio. Good on him.

      1. Vico
        24th September 2010, 14:27

        How nice that anyone noticed his fine debut drive! He’s never driven the car before, nor the track, so only being 0.2 sec down on Glock is really impressive.

        I was happy to see Klien back, but don’t understand why Karun didn’t get his seat back. So it’s safe to say he can go and look for another team…

        1. BasCB
          24th September 2010, 16:14

          I also think d’Ambrosio did a solid job there. I suppose Glock has been doing most of the test work though.

    2. Profile Photo

      damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
      24th September 2010, 12:39

      It is still to early to gain any understanding of who is genuinely quick, but I hope Mark can stay at that end of the field.

    3. Andy
      24th September 2010, 12:45

      Webber half a second up on Vettel, looks promising for the Aussie. Just got to hope Seb doesn’t break his front wing ;)

      1. Andy W
        24th September 2010, 13:27

        The real question is what will happen if Mark breaks ‘his’ will they give him Sebs…

    4. gwenouille
      24th September 2010, 12:46

      What’s with Hamilton ?

      1. Profile Photo

        Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
        24th September 2010, 12:49

        Not necessarily anything wrong – he only did a few laps at the end of the session and there was a lot of traffic. McLaren were testing new wings so he might not have been pushing for lap times to get the necessary data. Ditto Ferrari.

        1. Profile Photo

          Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
          24th September 2010, 13:02

          And teams often stack development programs so that drivers share duties. Whatever Hamilton ran in FP1 will probably be mirrored by Button in FP2 and vice versa. By the time FP3 comes around, the teams will have enough data for the drivers to form their own setups.

    5. Serifo
      24th September 2010, 13:06

      Interesting to see Massa collecting data for ferrari while Alonso was sitting in the garage ! I guess from all the championship contenders , ferrari is in unique position of sending one of the drivers for a long runs in treacherous conditions.

      1. Andy W
        24th September 2010, 13:31

        It might also have something to do with how much engine mileage each driver has left for the remaining sessions and races. If Alonso is looking squeaky they might have just decided to save them when the track was far from ideal.

        1. Mike
          24th September 2010, 14:28

          I’m not sure Massa is exactly in a better position…

          1. BasCB
            24th September 2010, 16:15

            I think he is a bit better with it, as his engine did not blow up in Malaysia.

    6. polishboy808
      24th September 2010, 13:08

      Heiki in 15th? YES!!!!!!!

    7. Sat
      24th September 2010, 13:10

      I know this session means nothing but very happy to see MSC:). he will surely surprise everyone If he pulls out a similar result in FP2.

      1. BasCB
        24th September 2010, 16:16

        Looked like he learnt the track pretty fast there. I hope to see some nice driving from him this weekend.

    8. Ayo
      24th September 2010, 13:11

      Massa’s job this week is to run into Webber.

      1. Gill
        24th September 2010, 13:59

        He he…… u missed Ham…
        Massa’s job is to run into Ham and webber.

        IN the next race, Webber, Ham and Button.

        IN the next Vettel ll be added to this list.. :)

        Pun intended

    9. Alex Bkk
      24th September 2010, 13:12

      Keith I’m not sure that “but despite treacherous conditions” and the headline of “Webber leads damp Singapore practice” really go together. Then again this is Asia and anything goes. ;)

    10. Electrolite
      24th September 2010, 13:19

      Heidfeld is already matching De La Rosa’s job of being right next to Kamui on the timesheets after one practice session! Good for Nick.

      1. BasCB
        24th September 2010, 16:18

        Consistent but not very fast. Only if you look at the fastest lap, if you look at sector times, Kobayasih did some sectors that were very impressive (optimum lap over a second in front).

        And Nick knows the track, where Kamui saw it for the first time.

        1. Profile Photo

          Steph (@)
          24th September 2010, 16:28

          Nick is back in a new car with new tyres though so I expect Kamui to be ahead for the rest of the season

    11. roberttty
      24th September 2010, 13:25

      Keith

      I will at Turn 1 Grandstands later.

      My twitter id will be @tien_yew but won’t be tweeting much. You can follow @asiaonemotoring – he tweets better!

      cheers!
      roberttty

    12. James
      24th September 2010, 13:26

      I have high hopes for Schumacher this weekend, it’s the type of track he goes well at. Schumacher was brilliant in Monaco and Montreal, and I’m sure he’ll pull out the moves in Singapore too

    13. Byron R
      24th September 2010, 13:40

      Could we be seeing engine limit rules starting to make a difference in practice with the front runners. Mercedes team still has the advantage of fresh engines, maybe if the other teams have to be conservative they can elevate themselves.

      Go Schumy!

      1. James
        24th September 2010, 14:02

        The works Renault team have a pretty impressive advantage over the other teams as well, Kubica might have a real chance of stealing some big points from the top 5, even a race win in the closing stages of this season!

      2. BasCB
        24th September 2010, 16:19

        I do think that was wat you saw at Ferrari with Alonso doing only a few laps.

    14. wasiF1
      24th September 2010, 16:15

      That lap time by Schumacher was something especial.

    Comments are closed.