Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton topped the times in yesterday evening’s final free practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Germany’s Sebastien Vettel.
The Briton, in his McLaren, clocked a best lap of 1 minute, 47.632 seconds to wind up 0.277 of a second ahead of Red Bull’s Vettel, who is desperate for a good result here to stay in touch with Jenson Button in the title race.
Button is 26 points clear of Vettel and 14 in front of his Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello, but had a practice to forget, managing only 14th.
Barrichello, winner of the last Grand Prix in Italy, was seventh fastest.
In steamy conditions but on a dry track, Nico Rosberg in the Williams was third, Hamilton’s teammate Heikki Kovalainen was fourth and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica was fifth in the 60-minute session.
Several drivers, led by Hamilton, have complained about how bumpy the street circuit is, saying the car “bounces and shakes.”
They also had a dusty, slippery track to contend with as well as driving under lights in the sport’s only night race, with Button commenting that a few of the corners were darker than he had expected.
Kubica, driving with a new gearbox, was the first under 1 minute, 50seconds, but he was soon replaced at the top of the time sheets by a flying Hamilton.
The Briton, who has no hope of defending his world title, had a wiring problem with his car on Friday, but it was fixed overnight and he was pushing it to the limit, coming with millimeters of some of the walls.
He shaved over 0.10 of a second off his own benchmark time with 15 minutes left, before Vettel made his move.
The German took the lead with eight minutes remaining, but Hamilton was having none of it and pipped the young German in the dying seconds.
Qualifying for today’s Grand Prix continued after press time yesterday.
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