23/09/2011
Bruno Senna, R31-04
P16, 1:53.765, 17 laps
Vitaly Petrov, R31-06
P18, 1:54.736, 8 laps
Lotus Renault GP began its preparations for this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix with a shortened and interrupted first session of free practice.
On a hot evening at Singapore’s street circuit, there was an initial half-hour delay as marshals worked on kerbs which had become dislodged at Turns 3 and 14, as highlighted by the earlier running of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. The kerbing was eventually removed, with drivers allowed to cross the white line at those areas. That reduced the session to an hour – and there was a further five-minute delay for a red flag when Heikki Kovalainen had a fire on his front brakes midway through the hour. Then the red flag came out yet again with eight minutes left as the bolt on another kerb was dislodged.
Bruno Senna nonetheless made the most of the available time running on the Pirelli ‘soft’ compound, the harder of the two available this weekend. At one point Bruno used high-vis paint to check the aero flow as the team works on its latest package. He was 16th fastest with a time of 1m 53.765s.
Vitaly was less fortunate as his session was further shortened due to an installation problem on the team’s new tighter bodywork package. He still ended up 18th courtesy of a lap of 1m 54.736s and his car will be ready for FP2.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton went fastest with a lap of 1m 48.599s in a session that started in twilight and finished in the fully dark conditions that will dominate the rest of the weekend.
For full results click here
Credit: Lotus Renault GP (www.lotusrenaultgp.com)
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