Slippery Singapore streets pose challenge: Jenson Button

McLaren's Jenson Button kept the flying Red Bulls in his sights in free practice for the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday although the world champion took his time to get to grips with a slippery street circuit.

The previous two Singapore Grand Prixs have stayed dry but heavy afternoon showers soaked the track on Friday and forecasts for the weekend suggest the weather could be an issue for Formula One''s only night race.

Button, third fastest behind Red Bull pair Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, needs a good result in the city-state to keep alive his chances of successfully defending his title.                      

With only five races remaining, the Briton is 22 points behind championship leader Webber.                                           

"We saw today that, after it rains, the track doesn''t dry very quickly and a lot of water comes up through the circuit," Button told reporters.                                           

"It's difficult to see which parts of the track are wet because of the glare. Hopefully, we won't have any more rain this weekend because wet conditions aren't the nicest to drive in.

"I don't know where our pace is, the Red Bulls look crazy quick, but we won''t know until tomorrow."

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said the effect of the afternoon rain had been an eye-opener.                                           

"This afternoon's shower showed, for the first time, that this circuit is likely to be very challenging in the wet. The track doesn't dry out very rapidly and, as we saw this evening, certain parts of the track don''t drain very efficiently.                                           

"That meant some corners were still damp long after the rest of the track had dried. Coupled with the fact that visibility under the strip lighting makes it hard for the drivers to see where the circuit is drying, a race in wet conditions could be extremely challenging."   

Button's team mate Lewis Hamilton was optimistic McLaren could close the gap on Red Bull by Sunday's race.  

"We're reasonably close, we're competitive. There's more time for us to find tomorrow so I'm optimistic," he said.                       

"The Red Bulls definitely aren't unbeatable here. They're very quick in the second and third sectors, so we''ll have to work hard to try to make up time there, but I'm pretty confident we can do it."