Singapore: Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel signalled his intention to secure a ninth victory of the season when the German set a blistering pace in the second free practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.
The 24-year-old, who has a chance to become the sport's youngest double world champion with five rounds remaining after Sunday's race, displayed the form that has taken him to the brink of the title with a one minute 46.374 second flying lap.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was second quickest, 0.201 seconds behind Vettel, as the Spaniard seeks to record a third victory around the Marina Bay Circuit in the fourth year of the race's existence.
The only other man to win Formula One's only night race is Lewis Hamilton and the Briton followed up his fastest time in a curtailed first practice session by taking third place on the timesheets in his McLaren after lapping in 1:47.115.
The race weekend got off to a slow start when the first session was first delayed and then reduced by 30 minutes when track officials were forced to remove some loose kerbing on two of the demanding street circuit's corners.
Hamilton edged out Vettel in the first free practice, which was halted twice when Heikki Kovalainen suffered a brake fire and more kerbing needed to be removed from turn seven, but the German lit up the night sky in the latter stages of the second.
Completing 30 laps in the 90 minutes available, Vettel put in a number of quick laps to top the timesheets early on and returned with super-soft tyres in the final half an hour to leapfrog Alonso after the Spaniard had dipped under 1:47.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa was fourth fastest overall, 0.145 seconds ahead of Mark Webber in the other Red Bull and more than a second in front of Mercedes' Michael Schumacher.
Britain's Jenson Button had a disappointing day, trailing Hamilton by more than two seconds in the first session and managing just 10 laps in the second before he abandoned his McLaren after stopping on the track at turn 14.
The strategy for Sunday's race could be dictated by the weather with thunderstorms forecast for the evening but the fact the super-soft tyres were a full second faster that the softs could also have a big say in the outcome.
The drivers will return for the third free practice on Saturday evening before the qualifying session takes place.
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