F1: Vettel Best Again In Second Singapore Practice

Formula 1

F1: Vettel Best Again In Second Singapore Practice

Sebastian Vettel led both Friday rounds at Marina Bay Street Circuit...

Jared Turner | Posted September 21, 2012 Marina Bay (SGP)

Perhaps this will be the weekend when Sebastian Vettel gets his mojo back.

If Friday's two practices at Marina Bay Street Circuit mean anything, the reigning World Champion is poised to do just that.

His bid for a third straight title on shaky ground after dropping to fourth in the standings with seven races left, Vettel resembled his 2011 self in P2 at Singapore.

After leading the day's opening practice, it was the German once again atop the time sheet in P2 as the Red Bull RB8 topped second-place man Jenson Button by a substantial .311.

World Championship leader Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five.

Filling out the rest of the top 10 were Paul Di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean.

Lotus driver Grosjean is back this weekend following a one-race suspension for triggering an accident in the Belgian GP.

Unlike Friday's accident-free opening practice, P2 wasn't bereft of trouble.

The first victim was Bruno Senna, whose Williams ran wide and hit the wall a little more than 30 minutes into the 90-minute session.

The incident, which culminated in the Brazilian driver's car coming to a grinding halt right in the middle of the racing line, resulted in a brief red-flag period.

The only other incident, which occurred just as practice came to a close, was a single-car spin by Kamui Kobayashi.

Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix is the 14th of 20 events on the 2012 Formula One calendar, which concludes in late November with the Brazilian GP.

Coming into the weekend, Alonso leads the drivers' standings by 37 points over Hamilton, 38 over Kimi Raikkonen and 39 over Vettel. Webber (-47) completes the top five.

Alonso and Hamilton both have a season-high three victories, while Webber and Button, each with two victories, are the season's other repeat winners.

McLaren has won the last three Grands Prix.

SPEED coverage of Formula One in Singapore resumes at 6 a.m. ET Saturday with SPEED.com's live streaming of Free Practice Three.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.