Lotus was presented with a series of difficult tasks across the first two practice sessions for the Singapore Grand Prix, with the first having already been shortened by half an hour. As the red flags flew in the closing stages of Practice 1, Heikki Kovalainen pulled off the circuit with his front brakes completely ablaze.
“That was a pretty hard day’s work for everyone in the team,” explained Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne. “The first session was obviously disrupted before it even started and then the red flags affected the whole grid. Jarno (Trulli)'s programme suffered from the stoppages and Heikki had a small off on his third run in FP1
“Once he came to a halt, the high brake temperatures meant he had a small fire in the front right but it was not a big issue and once we had the car back it was sorted out quickly. With Heikki's car and some changes to Jarno’s setup, the team had a lot of work to do during the break to turn both cars around and worked extremely well to have both cars ready for FP2.
“The second session was more productive and we were able to evaluate the aero updates we have brought here and it looks like we have made another small step forward. We will know more after going through the data tonight and then look forward to a good qualifying session tomorrow.”
As a result of the Kovalainen fire, larger brake ducts – which will compromise performance - were fitted to the car to prevent such happenings for the remainder of the race weekend.
Kovalainen's fiery brake problem can be viewed at GPUpdate TV
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:46.374 | 33 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:46.575 | 28 |
| 3. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 01:47.115 | 22 |
| 4. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 01:47.120 | 23 |
| 5. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:47.265 | 28 |
| 6. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:48.418 | 27 |
| 7. | A. Sutil | Force India | 01:48.866 | 32 |
| 8. | S. Perez | Sauber | 01:49.578 | 27 |
| 9. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 01:49.730 | 29 |
| 10. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:49.751 | 10 |
| Full results | ||||
| Heikki Kovalainen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Heikki Kovalainen photos | |||
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