Ahead of today's sole practice session the air temperature is 30 degrees C, while the track temperature is 34 degrees.

While Lewis Hamilton led the way in FP1 yesterday, the Mercedes driver, like his rivals, was merely a spectator in the afternoon as Red Bull, and in particular, Sebastian Vettel stamped their authority.

While Mercedes has clearly rediscovered its form, after a couple of so-so races, the Red Bulls looks mighty impressive here, much as expected, Spa and Monza having been the shock results.

Behind the Red Bulls and Mercedes, Grosjean led a tight bunch which included Ferrari, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Force India, despite losing track time in both sessions with a steering issue.

While there were no major incidents yesterday, a number of drivers had close encounters with the walls, Mark Webber one of them.

Tyre options are medium (prime) and supersoft (option), as opposed to soft and supersoft. The difference between them around a couple of seconds though it is the option that will be favoured during the race, the primes having a "short life expectancy".

There are two DRS zones this year. The first is on the pit straight - with activation on the approach to Turn 22, while the second runs between Turns 5 and 7 - with activation just after Turn 4.

With the removal of the Singapore sling chicane and the resurfacing of the track, times are considerably faster than in 2012. Indeed, Hamilton insists the track is not "twice as grippy".

Not for the first time, tyres are an issue, Ferrari in particular suffering, especially at the rear. Indeed, marbles are a real issue here.

Gutierrez is first out once the lights go green, followed by Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Chilton and Maldonado.

"Brakes are very poor," complains Ricciardo, not what you want on a street circuit. Not what you want on any circuit come to that. Rosberg however, is unhappy with his steering, an issue he suffered on Friday also.

While most drivers return to their garages Pic stays out to post a 52.954, unusual to see drivers complete installation laps on a Saturday. Van der Garde posts 52.134 and then Sutil 51.402.

As Van der Garde posts 50.792, di Resta is the last driver to emerge for an installation lap. Indeed, the Scot stays out and his first flying lap sees him go straight to the top of the timesheets with a 49.572. Teammate Sutil makes it a Force India 1-2 with a 50.057 but the truth is the team is hurting ever since the tyre compounds were changed.

As Hulkenberg runs wide at T9, Ricciardo is back on track after his team did some work on his brakes. Talking of brakes, Sutil is having issues with front locking.

A 48.592 sees Maldonado go quickest ahead of Hulkenberg and Bottas, though shortly after Ricciardo breaks the timing beam at 48.001.