Vettel sets early pace in Singapore

Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel set the early pace at the Singapore Grand Prix as he timed quickest in a damp first free practice session on Friday.

Two hours after a downpour, the Red Bull driver from Germany clocked 1min 50.566sec on the drying street circuit to overhaul McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by 0.049sec.

Hamilton's team mate Jenson Button was third quickest ahead of Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso, Williams driver Pastor Maldonado and Red Bull's Australian pilot, Mark Webber.

HIGH HUMIDITY

Nico Hulkenberg, Paul di Resta, Daniel Ricciardo and Sauber's Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 after the 90-minute session held in high humidity as dusk fell over the floodlit, downtown course.

In one of the few untoward incidents, Maldonado locked up a front wheel as he missed a sharp left-hander and ended up in a run-off area.

Ma Qinghua, who became the first Chinese driver to take part in Formula One during practice for this month's Italian Grand Prix, finished slowest of the session for Hispania.

With seven races to go, Alonso leads the standings by 37 points ahead of Hamilton, who has won two of the last three races. Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel, bidding for a third straight title, are both close behind. - AFP

RESULTS

1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull - 1min50.566

2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren - 1min50.615

3 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren - 1min51.459

4 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari - 1min51.525

5 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams - 1min51.576

6 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull - 1min51.655

7 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India - 1min51.658

8 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India - 1min51.943

9 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso - 1min52.275

10 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber - 1min52.296

11 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams - 1min52.629

12 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus - 1min52.716

13 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber - 1min52.839

14 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes - 1min52.986

15 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - 1min53.028

16 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari - 1min53.080

17 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - 1min53.189

18 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes - 1min53.227

19 Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia - 1min54.908

20 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham - 1min55.091

21 Charles Pic (France) Marussia - 1min55.335

22 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham - 1min55.760

23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) Hispania - 1min56.656

24 Ma Qinghua (China) Hispania - 1min58.053

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