Elsewhere it was a battle between Red Bull and Ferrari for best of the rest, on a circuit where engine power is not as important as the previous two high-speed tracks, Monza and Spa-Francorchamps.
As expected, that allowed McLaren to put in a much stronger showing than in recent weeks. Fernando Alonso finished free practice on 11th, while Jenson Button was 15th.
Singapore track guide
America’s Alexander Rossi made his debut with Manor, only to make a mistake and career into the barriers. The severe damage to the car curtailed his running and delayed his outing in second practice.
Alexander Rossi wasn’t smiling for very long
“I braked a bit too late in Turn 18 and it was my mistake,” the 23-year-old said. “I felt quite comfortable in the car and the pace was OK, so we will improve on that for tomorrow.”
Insult was added to injury for Manor when their other driver, Englishman Will Stevens, made a similar error in second practice, albeit with less damage sustained.
With 40 minutes to go in the final session of the day, there was a rarity for the last 18 months in the timesheets: there was no Mercedes to be seen in the top three. Amazingly, that is how it stayed.
Lotus F1 live to race another day
Meanwhile, the Lotus team breathed a sigh of relief on Friday after a High Court judge gave them more time to pay an outstanding £900,000 tax bill. While the team are in negotiations with Renault over a sale, HMRC have applied to put Lotus into administration. The next hearing is on September 28, and the judge has warned he will not offer another adjournment.
Mr Justice Birss said: “The parties have satisfied me that that there is genuinely a real prospect that the first stage of the deal that is being described will be signed in the next seven days which will allow significant funding to go into the company.”
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