Webber sets the pace in opening practice

Red Bul’s Mark Webber was the quickest after the first practice took place at the Singapore Grand Prix. With the track drying there was a last-minute rush for slick tyres which handled a strange order in the track action of the weekend.

Michael Schumacher almost topped a session for the first time since his comeback, but he was denied by Webber, who pulled ahead with a time of 1m54.589s, 0.119 seconds ahead of the time Schumacher (Mercedes).

Force India’s Adrian Sutil came third, with Vettel being the fourth quickest in the second Red Bull. Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and McLaren's Jenson Button, who lead for a few moments during the closing stages ended up with the fifth and sixth quickest times.

Some conclusions came out from the first practice and it has to with the track. It became clear for everyone that the Marina Bay circuit takes a long time to dry without sunlight hitting it.

In fact, rain hadn’t fall for over an hour before the start of the session, but still the track remained wet until the final 15 minutes, with puddles still visible off-line in many places.

Having set the pace during the wetter period, Kamui Kobayashi for Sauber and Virgin's Timo Glock, finished the session in 12th and 20th respectively.

On his return to an F1 cockpit, Nick Heidfeld on a Sauber finished 13th, although he was lying in the top six with a minute to go until the end of the session. The same happened with Lewis Hamilton that having made his quickest lap sooner than most, ended up in 18th spot.