Red Bull top practice for the first time this season; Ferrari lead the chase with Lewis Hamilton fourth and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg seventh
Tuesday 22 September 2015 09:21, UK
Red Bull topped practice for the first time this season with Daniil Kvyat fastest in the second session at the Singapore GP.
'As we expected going into the weekend, the field is very competitive and we have a fight on our hands,' tweeted Mercedes after a session in which world champion Lewis Hamilton was just fourth.
Kvyat lapped the 5.065km Marina Bay circuit in a time of 1:46.142s to go 0.039s faster than Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, with Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo third fastest.
Red Bull were anticipating a stronger weekend and deliberately took engine penalties at the last race in Italy to give themselves the best possible chance of a good result at a track that plays into the strengths of their Renault-powered RB11.
Whether the power unit goes the distance in what is the season's longest race remains to be seen, of course, as does the challenge presenting itself from elsewhere.
With 0.114s covering the top three, Hamilton was 0.337s slower than Kvyat, ahead of Sebastian Vettel, with Force India's Sergio Perez sixth on the timesheets.
Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg set the pace in first practice but was only seventh later on, with Fernando Alonso eighth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Max Verstappen.
Mercedes have frequently upped their pace this year heading into the weekend and Hamilton - who is seeking to match Ayrton Senna's 41 race wins this weekend as well as his record of eight consecutive poles - has all the motivation he needs.
For Rosberg, meanwhile, there's the matter of Hamilton's 53-point title lead. However, the suggestion too is that Mercedes suffered more tyre degradation than Red Bull during their P2 long runs.
Over 12 laps, Ricciardo averaged 1:51.3 on supersoft (option) tyres. In contrast, Hamilton's average was 1:51.8.
Alonso's eighth-fastest time was 0.817s off the ultimate pace - clearly an improvement on the 2.7s gap that existed at Monza, although again McLaren-Honda were expecting to perform a little better on the street track.
Team-mate Jenson Button was 14th fastest, still behind Sauber pair Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson, whose cars feature aerodynamic upgrades this weekend.
In turn, they were both behind Felipe Massa's Williams. With Massa 11th and Valtteri Bottas 17th, the suggestion is that, as was the case at Monaco in May, they're finding the going tougher on a street track.
There was more trouble for Manor during the session. After debutant Alexander Rossi ended P1 in the barriers, team-mate Will Stevens started the second session in much the same fashion.
Repairs to Rossi's car were completed before the end of P2 and the American took to the track in the closing moments to set the 19th fastest time, over 10s slower than Kvyat.
Times:
1. D Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:46.142
2. K Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:46.181
3. D Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:46.256
4. L Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:46.479
5. S Vettel, Ferrari, 1:46.487
6. S Perez, Force India, 1:46.659
7. N Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:46.781
8. F Alonso, McLaren, 1:46.959
9. N Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:47.294
10. M Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:47.427
11. F Massa, Williams, 1:47.684
12. F Nasr, Sauber, 1:47.755
13. M Ericsson, Sauber, 1:47.795
14. J Button, McLaren, 1:47.888
15. C Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:48.012
16. R Grosjean, Lotus, 1:48.096
17. V Bottas, Williams, 1:48.118
18. P Maldonado, Lotus, 1:50.094
19. A Rossi, Manor, 1:56.739
20. W Stevens, Manor, 1:59.932
