LIVE: Singapore Grand Prix - FP2

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Follow F1i's live coverage of the second practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix from the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

LIVE: Singapore Grand Prix - FP2

The spotlight is on Singapore this weekend, with the 15th race of Formula One's 2016 season being held in the dark of night under the powerful spotlights of the 5.065km (3.147-mile), 23-turn Marina Bay Street Circuit this weekend.

This is where Mercedes struggled last year, and while general opinion suggests that was down to a one-off set-up mishap there's still a question mark over whether the team will be able to get it right this year or suffer another slump in performance.

And the first free practice session has only intensified those questions, with Mercedes failing to finish in the top three in FP1 - although that may be down to tyre compound selection during the session. Instead it was Red Bull that was looking on the pace with Max Verstappen pipping Daniel Ricciardo by less than half of a tenth of a second for a team one-two.

Last year's race winner Sebastian Vettel was third fastest, pushing Lewis Hamilton down to fourth place just ahead of Nico Rosberg who suffered a late accident when he locked up and understeered into the wall at turn 18. It damaged his front wing but otherwise didn't do too much lasting damage - except, perhaps, to the German driver's confidence.

Kimi Raikkonen was sixth fastest just ahead of the two Toro Rosso drivers, Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat both of whom would love a strong result this weekend. Williams' Felipe Massa and Haas' Esteban Gutierrez rounded out the top ten, with McLaren's Fernando Alonso having a fairly quiet start to the weekend in 11th ahead of a subdued brace of Force India cars.

Alonso's team mate Jenson Button recovered from an early breakdown with fuel system problems before eventually managing to put in 20 laps. No such good fortune for Romain Grosjean, though, who was sidelined for almost the entire session with low intake pressure on the Haas and completed only two shakedown laps.

Everything could still change in the second free practice. Unlike FP1 this will be the first session fully held in night time conditions, so don't be surprised if one or more teams flip the switch and start to show their true hand. It all gets underway underway at 21:30 local time, which is 2.30pm BST.

Naturally you can follow everything that happens in FP2 as-it-happens with F1i's live commentary page, where you are also cordially invited to submit your questions and comments!

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.