Mat Coch writes:

After two races spent off the pace Mercedes looks to have recaptured the form which has made it a front runner for much of the year.

Fastest in the early session Lewis Hamilton feels he lost his way somewhat in FP2, the car not performing as well once the sun, and the track temperature, had fallen.

"The balance of the car felt really good in FP1 but it definitely went away from us in FP2," he admitted. "There is a lot of work to do this evening but we're used to that on a Friday night and will just get on with it and focus on our car and performance."

Circuit evolution is quite pronounced over the Singapore weekend, the city streets becoming faster and more rubbered in as the weekend wears on. It creates a moving target for teams, who dealt with an almost three second drop in lap times from the first to second practice session.

It's a variable Nico Rosberg doesn't feel his team is fully on top of at this stage, specifically in terms of tyres, despite his third place in the evening's second session.

"There is still some work to do this evening," said Rosberg. "We will be looking at how we used the tyres this evening and make sure we are on top of potential overheating and degradation on the long runs."

Mercedes apparent return to form comes as no surprise to Pirelli's Paul Hembery, who believes the Maria Bay circuit plays to the team's strengths.

"The last couple of races it seems that they've lost a bit of pace but now it looks like they're back on a really competitive level," said Hembery.

"We saw in Monaco when there's a break in traction track they've been good," he added. "We did anticipate Mercedes being strong here."

With one day of running complete Red Bull remain the strong favourites for the Grand Prix on Sunday, though Mercedes is lurking and could just create an upset. If nothing else they'll keep Red Bull somewhat honest, though probably from a distance.

Check out our Friday gallery, here.