MOTOR SPORT FORMULA ONE CHAMPIONSHIP:A COUPLE of weeks ago in Monza, a victorious Fernando Alonso insisted the victory, his third of an erratic season, had put him back on the road to possible championship triumph. Yesterday, in Singapore, the Ferrari driver found himself metaphorically and literally up a cul de sac as Red Bull Racing proved to be streets ahead at the Marina Bay circuit.

A classic exercise in flattery and, to some degree, self-deception, Alonso’s Italian Grand Prix win had been scored on a circuit that emphasises grunt over grace and while this year’s Ferrari is rapidly finding the poise needed to negotiate the higher downforce circuits that remain on the calendar, the first runs around the streets of Singapore yesterday again confirmed the fleet-footed Red Bull still retains a performance advantage of frightening proportions.

In the second session, with Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel controlling proceedings by a huge one-second margin over nearest non-Red Bull rival Jenson Button, Alonso put the hammer down and chased the German’s time. It began well, with Alonso setting the quickest time in the higher speed first sector. But by the time Alonso entered the third sector the time had fallen away and pushing on, he erred, losing the back end in turn 17 and being forced to guide his car down an escape road to avoid a further, more debilitating mistake at the next corner.

Despite the seemingly insurmountable gap, Alonso was bullish about his chances of catching the Red Bulls in qualifying.

“I think we are close to them,” he said.

“We were more or less close with the hard tyre and then I didn’t complete the lap with the soft tyre, so I guess they are in front. They are still a little bit in front of us, a couple of tenths, but hopefully we can fight with them and are close enough tomorrow.”

The Spaniard’s faith in finding the missing second was perhaps warranted by the first sector of his final lap but the harsh reality is the evening-long pace of the Red Bulls was as electric as the thousands of lights that illuminate the course.

In the first session, run as the sun set over the city, championship leader Mark Webber ran fastest, though just a 10th quicker than surprise package Michael Schumacher.

In that session, on a track made trickier by standing water from earlier rain showers, Vettel finished fourth.

It was in the second session the pair stretched ahead though, Vettel blitzing the competition from the off and Webber tidying things up with a late flying lap that left him second, though he was still six tenths adrift of his team-mate and championship rival.

“It was a pretty good first day,” said Webber. “I haven’t seen the times that closely yet, but I’m pretty happy with how it went. I need to work on my short run performance a bit but overall it’s good.”

Vettel, meanwhile was sanguine about the advantage. “The most important thing is to have a clean Friday and we had no problem with the car today,” he said.

“Honestly, it doesn’t mean much to be in P1 today, as it’s only practice and there are no points available.”

A point had been made, however. A one-second gap to rivals supposedly contesting for a championship is cavernous. The last time the Red Bulls had enjoyed such a vast advantage was at the Hungaroring, Budapest, in August.

It was left to yesterday’s third-placed driver, Button, to perhaps best sum things up.

“At the moment the Red Bull looks crazy quick,” he said shaking his head.

DRIVERS

1 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 187 points

2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 182

3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 166

4 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 165

5 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 163