Raikkonen fastest
Hamilton is second quickest in first two practice sessions
SINGAPORE: Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest practice time for the Singapore Grand Prix but the Finn’s teammate Sebastian Vettel suffered a frustrating start to the weekend in his bid to overhaul championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton opened a 30-point cushion over Vettel with a surprise win in Monza two weeks ago and while Ferrari are regarded as having a superior car, the Briton set the second-fastest time of the day just 0.011 seconds back in his Mercedes.
Vettel has been criticised for dropping points due to some poor tactical driving this season but there was little he could do looking on from the Ferrari garage after his car suffered a radiator fluid leak midway through the second prac- tice session.
Raikkonen lapped the 5.063km Marina Bay Street Circuit in 1:38.699 seconds, with Hamilton just behind as the rejuvenated Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished third and fourth respectively half a second further back.
Vettel’s troubles began during the frantic middle sector of the second session as drivers looked to set their fastest laps on the high-grip hypersoft tyres before switching to slower compounds for race simulations.
The German was on course to challenge Raikkonen and Hamilton’s best times before he clipped the wall on the final bend, causing him to abort his lap and dart into the pits with a fluid leak. He sat out the remain-
der of the session.
Valtteri Bottas was fifth fastest in the second Mercedes, ahead of Renault’s Carlos Sainz, Haas’
Romain Grosjean, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Vettel down in ninth place after completing just 12 laps. — Reuters