Singapore Grand Prix: Resurgent Red Bull a threat to Alonso

Gossip in the Singapore paddock on Friday suggested the lights may be about to got out at Formula One's only night race. No chance.

Organisers may be haggling with Bernie Ecclestone over the terms of a new deal but this is one grand prix that is here to stay. Sponsors love it, drivers love it, fans love it; this is the acceptable face of a sport which yesterday announced a 2013 calendar featuring 13 races outside Europe, more than double the number a decade ago. This race has energy, it has a future; unlike some of the duds which have been added to the mix in recent years.

It is difficult to conceive of a more spectacular setting for the start of a seven-race run-in which looks like it could rival 2010 for drama.

The speculation swirling around Lewis Hamilton's future, and the possible impact any move might have on the driver market, has rather overshadowed the fact that we are in the grip of a five-way battle for supremacy, with the gap at the top getting tighter with each passing race.

If practice times yesterday are to be believed it could be tighter still by the end of the weekend. Sebastian Vettel set the pace in both sessions - the first on a drying track after a typically ferocious afternoon downpour - suggesting Red Bull may have found their qualifying wings again after a few races in which they have struggled to achieve lift-off on a Saturday.

The double world champion pipped McLaren's Jenson Button to the fastest time of the day, with Fernando Alonso third quickest in his heavily updated Ferrari. Given the fact that Hamilton botched the final corner on his fastest hot lap, it looks as if it might be a fight between McLaren and Red Bull for pole today.

And given that the driver qualifying on pole has won here every year apart from 2008 - when Nelson Piquet Jnr's tactical collision with a wall ensured a win for his then Renault team-mate Alonso - there is a good chance the Spaniard's 37-point lead in the title race could be reduced still further.

As is customary, the leading drivers played down the significance of Friday practice times. "It is not very conclusive because people might be in traffic and get stuck," said Vettel.

It looked pretty conclusive for Lotus, whose lack of pace around the bumpy, twisting Marina Bay Street Circuit had Kimi Raikkonen suggesting his team were not developing as fast as the others after going 12th fastest in both sessions.

"We don't have enough grip, I guess we are lacking downforce," said the Finn. "I think we can improve for tomorrow, but we are not going to find two seconds, unfortunately."

It looks to be another weekend of damage limitation for Raikkonen, who remains, incredibly, just one point behind Hamilton in the championship despite not having won a race this season. Barring incident or accident, Hamilton will move away from him this weekend. But it is the 2008 world champion's possible move away from McLaren which has added a fascinating subtext to this most fascinating of run-ins.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh did his best to remain calm in the face of a barrage of questions yesterday as to why he has not yet pinned down his star driver to a new contract.

"It seems a long time because of all the speculation but when you sit down and seriously put your mind to entering into a new contract it doesn't take too long," he said. "I think it is a question of priorities and other things we have been doing."

Whitmarsh all but admitted McLaren have offered Hamilton reduced terms to stay with the team. "I am sure he will want more money and I am sure we will want to pay less. That is how business normally works."

The man himself once again refused to engage on the issue, limiting his pronouncements to on-track issues. "It's very going to be very close," he offered. He might as well have been talking about his future.