French rookie Romain Grosjean halted Singapore Grand Prix first practice on Friday by crashing his Renault at the same place where Nelson Piquet deliberately smashed into the wall a year ago.

In an amazing flashback to that inaugural 2008 race, Grosjean lost control on turn 17 of the Marina Bay Street Circuit and slammed into the opposite wall.

Renault were handed a suspended permanent ban for race-fixing earlier this week after Piquet confessed to crashing on purpose last year in a plot to help team mate Fernando Alonso win after the safety car was deployed.

Grosjean, who replaced Brazilian Piquet in August and was passed fit only on Friday morning after feeling unwell on Thursday, had completed nine laps when he crashed. He has not previously raced at the track.

Brawn GP's championship leader Jenson Button had recorded the fastest time of the session before the cars were ordered to return to the garages.

The track was cleared nine minutes after the crash and practice resumed with 36 minutes remaining. A second session will take place at 9:30 p.m. (3.30 p.m.)

The following were this morning's times

1. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Brawn-Mercedes 1 min 50.179
secs
2. Jenson Button (Britain) Brawn-Mercedes 1:50.356
3. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault 1:50.416
4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:50.567
5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull-Renault 1:50.614
6. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren-Mercedes 1:50.699
7. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren-Mercedes 1:50.715
8. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:50.815
9. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:50.865
10. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams-Toyota 1:51.089
11. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams-Toyota 1:51.427
12. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India-Mercedes 1:51.544
13. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:51.643
14. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:51.656
15. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1:52.083
16. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:52.135
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Ferrari 1:52.390
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Force India-Mercedes 1:52.905
19. Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:53.232
20. Romain Grosjean (France) Renault 1:53.458

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