20/09/2013
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's second practice session the air temperature is 29 degrees C, while the track temperature is 30 degrees. It is now 21:30.
Lewis Hamilton set the pace this morning, Mercedes and, of course, Red Bull, enjoying a clear advantage over their rivals, led by Lotus.
The changes to T10, which see the Singapore Sling chicane replaced by a proper turn have seen lap times drops by several seconds.
The track has been resurfaced in several places, Hamilton claiming that it is "twice as grippy" as it was in 2012.
Tyre options are medium (prime) and supersoft (option), as opposed to soft and supersoft.
There are two DRS zones. 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.
Sutil is first out as monitors show that there is a 10 percent chance of rain during the session. Di Resta is the second driver to get to work, followed by Bottas, Ricciardo, Maldonado and Pic.
Sutil crosses the line at 51.501 but this is soon beaten by Bottas (50.057) before the Force India driver retakes the position with a 49.768.
Vettel is out surprisingly early, indeed, all but Webber, Alonso and Grosjean are on track.
Normal service resumes as Rosberg posts 48.281 to go quickest but then Vettel slams in a 46.853 having gone quickest in all three sectors. Webber and Grosjean still in their garages, the Frenchman having missed much of this morning's session due to a steering issue.
Vergne locks-up and runs wide at T7 as Rosberg is warned - as he was in FP1 - not let his tyres cool too much.
Eric Boullier is clearly very frustrated as he confirms that Grosjean is suffering a steering problem.
Hamilton goes second, 0.313s off Vettel's pace, ahead of Rosberg, Alonso and Perez.
Finally on track, Webber goes quickest in the first two sections before crossing the line at 46.489 to go quickest. Elsewhere, Button complains of a "big issue" with his fronts locking.
A 46.408 sees Vettel retake the top spot, Red Bull and Mercedes continuing the domination here. No such luck for Ferrari where both drivers are struggling, Massa doing well to keep his car out of the wall.
The Mercedes is significantly quicker than the Red Bull through the speedtrap, the Austrian team clearly making up for this - in terms of downforce - through the corners.
Almost half-an-hour into the session, Ricciardo is the first to make the switch to options, the Australian curiously off the pace this morning. His first lap on the supersoft rubber sees the Toro Rosso driver improve by 3.2s to second just 0.249s off Webber's time.
Maldonado, the Caterhams and Marussias also on options now. Hulkenberg also.
Finally out of the pits, Grosjean goes seventh on his first flying lap despite a mistake.
Vettel is the first of the big guns to try the softer rubber, his Red Bull teammate and the Mercedes duo quickly following suit.
In its quest to find downforce Ferrari is trying various new front wings.
As expected, Vettel goes quickest in S1 and again in S2. At the line the German posts 44.249, an improvement of almost 2.5s. Moments later Webber posts 44.853 posting PBs in all three sectors.
Raikkonen is off at T7 while Webber brushes the wall at T5.
On the softer rubber, Rosberg and Hamilton both improve but remain third and fourth having only posted PBs in each sector. There is talk of the Red Bulls running a lighter fuel load but what would be the point?
The Force Indias remain at the wrong end of the timesheets, Sutil having only completed 7 laps.
As Grosjean improves to fifth, the Red Bull mechanics check Webber's car for damage after that brush with the wall.
Whilst Vettel is 0.604 clear of his nearest rival (Webber), the next nine drivers are quite well matched, covered by just over a second.
Just after half-time, it's: Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Hamilton, Grosjean, Alonso, Button, Raikkonen, Sutil and Perez.
The drivers now focus on high fuel load running which means the lap times soon begin to rise.
Fascinating thermal shots of the rear tyres on Massa's car, showing the tyres heating up through the corners and then cooling again on the straights.
Maldonado gives the wall a nudge at T13, after carrying too much speed into the corner. He slowly heads back to the pits his front wing askew.
Told that he will be switching to the primes, Hamilton clearly isn't happy, questioning the decision.
Poor old Grosjean is having a nightmare weekend. Having missed time at the start of both sessions he's now back in the pits and out of his car with what is thought to be a hydraulics issue. The French youngster is currently fifth quickest.
"I tried to get past Gutierrez but he wants to do his own private race," complains Vettel, "but I'm not interested." Spoil sport!
Bottas is the latest to make use of one of the numerous escape roads. "Be careful," the Finn is told, "there are wing issues as in previous races". Elsewhere, another lock-up for Maldonado at T16.
On a 4-lap run, Webber is told to "push hard". Elsewhere, it is revealed that Bottas is suffering from (rubber) debris caught in his front wing.
As the clock ticks down all but Maldonado and Grosjean are on track. Vettel continues to set a strong pace on his 26-lap long run.
The session ends with Vettel quickest, ahead of Webber, Rosberg, Hamilton, Grosjean, Alonso, Button, Raikkonen, Sutil and Perez.
Ricciardo is eleventh, ahead of Vergne, di Resta, Hulkenberg, Massa, Gutierrez, Bottas, Maldonado, Van der Garde, Pic, Chilton and Bianchi.
Check out our Friday gallery, here.