Giancarlo Fisichella was first to leave his Force India garage and do a christening lap in the opening practice session of the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix.

He was followed soon after by the other 19 drivers, including championship rivals Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Hamilton topped the time charts after the first-ever night practice in F1, setting a fastest lap of 1min 45.518sec.

His former teammate, Renault's Fernando Alonso, was fastest after the second session with 1:45.654. Hamilton was second and Massa third, with less than two-hundredths of a second separating the trio.

Yet, yesterday's session was in essence just a practice. The real action will start tonight with the 10pm qualifying.

Still, it was a remarkable, made-for-television scene all around the brightly-lit 5.067km circuit.

Cameras flashed and as many among the estimated 50,000 fans scrambled off their seats to get the best views of the sleek million-dollar machines, as they zoomed past picture-perfect landmarks like the Singapore Flyer and City Hall.

Once nightfall set in around 7.20pm, the Central Business District skyline made for a spectacular backdrop, especially during aerial shots of the cars speeding down St Andrew's Road.

Renault's executive director of engineering Pat Symonds told The Straits Times: 'The lighting, the atmosphere, the television shots are better than anything I could have ever imagined.'

Yesterday's 90-minute sessions - the second began at 9.30pm - were crucial for drivers to get familiar with a circuit they have never raced on.

Essentials like braking points and visual references needed to be established by drivers. Street circuits typically provide less grip and more bumps than a purpose-built track, and this was evident from yesterday's sessions.

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais said: 'Unfortunately the quick parts are the bumpiest and so we are having to run the cars quite high, which obviously reduces performance.'

Two problem spots emerged and drivers will do well to beware of the final turn and Turn 18.

The latter is where cars manoeuvre under the Marina Bay floating platform grandstand towards Raffles Avenue.

Red Bull's Mark Webber had the dubious distinction of being the first to crash on the circuit, losing control at this turn during the initial session.

The left-hander before the Start/Finish straight was also incident-packed. Four drivers spun or hit the barriers.

Said Honda's Rubens Barrichello, who spun into the barriers at Turn 23 in the first session: 'Our practice was compromised as the car was bouncing and touching the ground so much.'

Also making the headlines was Jarno Trulli, who drove the wrong way and was reprimanded by the stewards and fined ¥10,000 (S$20,924). He too made history, being the only driver penalised.

The third and final practice starts at 7pm and qualifying - when drivers jostle for positions for tomorrow's starting grid - begins at 10pm.

Hamilton, Alonso and Massa's pace should set the scene for a battle royal tonight.

limze@sph.com.sg