Friday: Red Bull feels better in Singapore than in Monza

Red Bull has high hopes after Friday’s Free Practice sessions and feels it has the potential to claim victory. The chassis designed by Adrian Newey works wonders on the demanding Singapore track. Although it seems more nervous than the Brawn GP cars, the Red Bull is still the fastest in the hands of Sebastian Vettel. The German, fifth in the first session, clocked a blistering time in the second and left his closest rival, Fernando Alonso, nearly three-tenths of a second behind! A significant gap considering the current closeness of performance in Formula 1.

His teammate, Mark Webber, clocked the third-fastest time this morning. The Australian driver was leading the timesheet in the middle of the second session before crashing his car into a wall. This off-track incident forced the organizers to bring out the red flag but more importantly, it compelled Sebastian Vettel to do more laps than the team had planned, always aiming to save the engines. It’s paradoxical because Sebastian Vettel is using his eighth and final new engine of the season in Singapore, with still four races remaining. The ninth engine now seems inevitable. The penalty too.

Sebastian Vettel – 5th and 1st:

« We can see over time that the track is a bit slower than last year, which is somewhat unfortunate because some fast corners have been slowed down. This removes a bit of the circuit’s character but not too much. It’s a challenging race that feels a lot like constantly braking/accelerating. You don’t feel as much G-force as on other circuits, but there are several irregularities in the layout that make driving just as difficult. I really like this circuit overall. Besides, the day was good, and we seem to be more competitive here than we were at Monza. »

Mark Webber – 3rd and 6th:

« I pushed a bit too hard in the second free practice and picked up some dust on the lines. I made a mistake in the last corner and hit the pit wall. Before that, the car seemed to be going well; I was fast, and both Sebastian and I had good sessions. I would have liked to do a few more kilometers, but after all, we continue to learn every day, and I’ll be back on track tomorrow. I think the race should be good for us. What’s going to be interesting is the tires, which are not easy to assess. We still need to work tonight, but we’re not bad for now… »