Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time at the first ever Formula One practice session held at night, ahead of this weekends inaugural Singapore Grand Prix. His best time of 1:45.518 put his just 0.08 seconds ahead of his main championship rival, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
His teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, was a further four tenths of a second behind, slotting in third in front of Heikki Kovalainen in the sister McLaren setting a 1:46.463. Robert Kubica kept the pace for BMW, putting himself just behind the Ferraris and McLarens, setting a 1:46.618. Nico Rosberg placed Williams high up, beating Renault’s Fernando Alonso who completed the session in seventh with his teammate, Nelson Piquet Jr, in 9th and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld in-between the Renaults. Jenson Button landed his Honda in tenth with a 1:47.277, a full 0.3 seconds faster than Italian Grand Prix winner, Sebastian Vettel. The Toyotas struggled in 13th and 19th whilst Mark Webber became the first driver to crash an F1 car at the new circuit, and finished the session at the bottom.
Singapore appears to have lived up to the hype, with an incredible city backdrop. It was a close battle in the first practice session, but who will come out on top in FP2?
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