Practice Three: Vettel sets a storming pace

Sebastian Vettel was again the man to beat in practice in Singapore, although a late yellow flag prevented his rivals from launching an attack

The Red Bull racer, who was quickest on Friday night, clocked a 1:48.028 to finish 0.622s ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

However, both Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber were on flying laps when the yellow flags were waved, forcing them to back off, finishing P3 and P6 respectively.

As for the other title contender, Jenson Button, he could only manage the 13th best time, over two seconds off the pace.

Report: Just as with Friday's first session, Practice Three began on a mostly dry track, however, there were still several wet areas left over from the earlier rain. That prompted a mix of slick and intermediate tyres as the drivers ventured out for their installation laps with Vitaly Petrov at the front of the train. With the track not wet enough for inters and not dry enough for slicks, a period of silence descended before Lucas di Grassi finally broke it, crossing the line with a 2:00.831 before taking four seconds off his time on the following lap. Jaime Alguersuari joined the action, immediately quicker than the Virgin Racing driver while Petrov went third and Jarno Trulli fourth.

With more drivers venturing out the lap times tumbled while the timesheets were ever-changing. Robert Kubica was the next to lead the way, followed by Alguersuari, Sebastien Buemi, Kubica, Nico Hulkenberg and Kubica again with a 1:50.428. Michael Schumacher took second place behind the Renault driver before losing out to Nico Rosberg.

Halfway through the session, the only drivers not to have set times were Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel. Their title rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, were P10 and P14 respectively.

Schumacher hit the front with a 1:50.144 while Button claimed third place on his first attempt moments before his team-mate Hamilton went quickest. Bruno Senna lost the back end of his Hispania at the approach to Turn 10. Hulkenberg took over from Hamilton but his reign was short-lived as the McLaren driver came back with a 1:49.000. Webber went second with Vettel P4.

Alonso took the P1 slot off Hamilton with a 1:48.909 before he was pipped by Vettel. A few minutes later, Alonso was almost collected by Kubica as the Renault driver attempted to keep his car away from the wet stuff. With the clock running down, four of the five Championship contenders were in the top five on the timesheets. The only one not was Button down in 12th place.

The final few minutes saw the usual switch to the option tyres, the super-soft rubber. Vettel improved his P1 time to a 1:48.028, Alonso closed the gap to the Red Bull driver but only marginally, Massa took fourth place and Senna stopped out on track, which brought the yellow flags preventing Webber and Hamilton from finishing their flying laps.

Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m48.028s 15 laps
02. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m48.650s + 0.622s 16 laps
03. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m49.000s + 0.972s 12 laps
04. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m49.023s + 0.995s 18 laps
05. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m49.056s + 1.028s 17 laps
06. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m49.212s + 1.184s 13 laps
07. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m49.304s + 1.276s 17 laps
08. Robert Kubica Renault 1m49.520s + 1.492s 16 laps
09. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m49.916s + 1.888s 15 laps
10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.949s + 1.921s 16 laps
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m50.040s + 2.012s 15 laps
12. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m50.053s + 2.025s 16 laps
13. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m50.060s + 2.032s 12 laps
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m50.067s + 2.039s 16 laps
15. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m50.067s + 2.039s 14 laps
16. Tonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m50.868s + 2.840s 16 laps
17. Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari 1m51.016s + 2.988s 15 laps
18. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m51.027s + 2.999s 17 laps
19. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m52.340s + 4.312s 14 laps
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m53.146s + 5.118s 15 laps
21. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m53.297s + 5.269s 15 laps
22. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m53.681s + 5.653s 17 laps
23. Christian Klien Hispania-Cosworth 1m54.826s + 6.798s 16 laps
24. Bruno Senna Hispania-Cosworth 1m55.367s + 7.339s 16 laps

Source: Planet-F1