Red Bull's Vettel is red hot

Red Bull set the pace ahead of Brawn GP pair of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello by topping the free practice timings for Sunday's Singapore GP

Red Bull set the pace ahead of Brawn GP pair of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello by topping the free practice timings for Sunday's Singapore GP

Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel threw down the gauntlet to Brawn GP pair Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello by topping the times in opening free practice for Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.

Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel during the second practice session for Sunday's Singapore GP at the Marina Bay City Circuit in Singapore yesterday. pic/afp

Four races to go
The German is 26 points behind championship leader Button and 12 adrift of Barrichello with four Grands Prix left and knows he needs a victory here to stay in the hunt.

He hurled his car around the Marina Bay street circuit in 1:48.650 to finish 0.274 behind the Fernando Alonso, who finally gave the disgraced Renault team something to smile about.

However, While Alonso came second, there was more misery for Renault with Romain Grosjean hitting the wall during the first practice at Turn 17 ironically the very same place Nelson Piquet deliberately crashed here last year.

"I wish we had 10 races to go, but we don't," Vettel said.

"We will just try to get the maximum out of these four races and whatever happens, happens."

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen was third with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld fourth. Button came home fifth while Barrichello, who was fastest in the first practice session, could only manage 11th.

"This venue is a tough one with the heat and humidity to contend with and the nature of the circuit and the closeness of the barriers demand your total concentration," said Button.

"The key is achieving consistently quick laps and that's what we've been working on today."

Webber crashes
Vettel's teammate Mark Webber took sixth despite crashing out. It wasn't easy driving under lights and, with a massive construction site for a new casino being built nearby, the track was not just bumpy but dusty.u00a0

It meant slippery tarmac, with several drivers losing control as they got a feel of the conditions.