Zoom Top ten running for Jenson Button

Formula One went nocturnal tonight as Honda took to the floodlit streets of Singapore for the opening practice sessions of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello got their first taste of the new Marina Bay Street Circuit at 1900 local time during the first official night practice in F1 history.

As anticipated, the twisting 5.067km track required maximum downforce levels on the team's RA108s. But the circuit, which has been given the unanimous approval of the drivers, threw up plenty of surprises, particularly its bumps and the amount of dust off-line.

The opening practice session ended with Button setting the tenth fastest time. He completed a total of 30 laps, during which he improved the handling of his RA108. Barrichello was less happy with the balance of his car. He had too much front-end grip and the resultant oversteer provoked a spin midway through the session that ended with him nudging the barriers and causing some damage to his rear wing.

Second practice got underway just one hour later and Button continued to improve the balance of his car. He completed 32 more laps and ended the evening in eighth place with a best lap of 1:46.901s.

Barrichello completed 25 laps in session two. However, having taken to the track late following repairs to his car, he struggled with the stability of his car on the bumpy track and further work is required to resolve the problem.

Jenson Button
"It's been a very strange day of testing tonight! You would expect the conditions to be cooler but this has to be one of the hottest Fridays that we've ever had and it's just so humid. The circuit is interesting to drive and it's very bumpy which adds to the excitement as the bumps bounce the car all over the place."

"We spent both sessions trying to improve the ride quality and balance of the car by testing many different things and the outcome was largely positive. We didn't get the best out of the car on my final run with the new tyres, due to too much understeer, but it was still nice to end up eighth quickest. All in all, a good start to the weekend and I'm sure there is still a lot more to come".

Rubens Barrichello
"We worked really hard today but unfortunately our practice was compromised as the car was bouncing and touching the ground so much. I was a passenger for the second session really as we could not resolve the problem, despite trying many different solutions. The layout of the circuit is quite good but it is very bumpy which has been the cause of the problems with our car. The lighting is quite bright although there seems to be a dark spot at Turn 5. Visibility is not a problem although it may be more tricky if it rains."