FRIDAY’S F1 PRACTICE RUNDOWN:SINGAPORE

Dusk in Singapore set the backdrop for the long awaited opening session of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. 

From the outset, Ferrari fans were hit with their now regular wave of disappointment when Charles Leclerc reported brake concerns, forcing the Monegasque to prematurely return to his garage. 

After sitting out nearly half the session, Leclerc would return to finish in P3, just four tenths off the fastest time. 

It was an impressive sight for all to see Alex Albon back in form after having surgery to remove his appendix and suffering respiratory failure due to related complications a mere two weeks ago. 

The Thai driver ended the session in P16 ahead of his Williams teammate, Nicholas Latifi, whose debut session in Singapore saw him run the slowest lap time of the grid. 

Mercedes’ pace looked mediocre in the first half of FP1, as George Russell initially struggled with the handling of his W13. Russell familiarised himself with the barriers when he locked up, luckily escaping any major damage on his front wing in the first 10 minutes. 

The Mercedes driver came to terms with his car and finished the session with the fifth fastest time, 1.033 seconds behind his teammate who unexpectedly took P1. 

A few midfielders made a temporary appearance in the top 5. Lance Stroll got his Aston Martin as high as P2, 0.985 seconds off Verstappen then in P1, relegating Fernando Alonso’s Alpine to P3 midway through the opening session. 

Alpine will be running major upgrades in Singapore, however, withheld from using them in FP1, instead opting to save them for the more representative FP2 session. 

Ferrari initially began FP1 by testing setups. Sainz early on requested a preempted change to his Ferrari after only achieving a fastest time which left him over two tenths behind Perez’s P2. 

After some adjustments to his F1-75, the Spaniard returned to the track on a fresh set of hard tyres. The return was accompanied by a dicey moment which saw Sainz slide and catch himself merely centimetres from the close walls of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the first of two similar incidents for Sainz. 

The second-year Ferrari driver ultimately finished in P6, behind his teammate in P3. 

Red Bull’s session ran smoothly until the closing stages. The two drivers consistently put in green and purple sectors on their fly laps, however, a driveshaft issue on Perez’s car forced him back into his garage. 

Verstappen stayed out on track constantly holding P1 with his impressive times, however, a lockup at Turn 15 saw him pirouetting to rejoin the track. 

Lance Stroll caused the only red flag of the session, becoming the first victim of Singapore’s unforgiving walls when his Aston Martin understeered mid-corner, hurling him into the wall at Turn 5. 

In an unexpected end to the seemingly usual FP1 timing sheets, Lewis Hamilton managed to get his Mercedes into P1.

Friday Practice Rundown In Singapore 

On 4-lap old soft tyres, Hamilton put in a time of 1:43.033, beating out both Red Bulls and Ferrari to top FP1 for the first time this season. 

Despite teams missing out on time running in the opening session due to the red flag, not much value was lost as FP1 lacked representation of the true conditions the cars will run in for the major sessions this weekend. 

FP2 which mirrored both qualifying and the race start is a direct representation, minus the looming chance of rain across the weekend. 

Under the floodlights, Ferrari locked out the front row, followed by Mercedes and an inferior-looking Red Bull outfit. 

In representative conditions, Carlos Sainz took P1 with the fastest time of 1:42.587 ahead of his teammate in P2 and Russell in P3. 

Leclerc missed out yet again on running in the first half of the session as the floor of his Ferrari was removed to further inspect an issue and scan his car in the garage. 

Stroll managed to make an appearance in FP2 after his earlier crash, while his veteran teammate, Sebastian Vettel, opened his session with a moment reminiscent of Verstappen’s FP1 lock up into Turn 15, as did Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. 

Both Red Bulls long remained in the pits for setup changes, as Verstappen took to the track with just over 35 minutes to go on hard tyres, followed by Perez. 

Verstappen finished FP2 in P4 with a lap time three tenths off P1, while Perez ended in P9, 1.319 seconds off the pace. 

Latifi was on both the giving and receiving end of traffic interference. Initially holding up Hamilton on a flying lap, the Canadian was then frustrated by an indecisive Alpha Tauri in his path. 

Drivers struggled to come to grips with the 23 corners of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with the likes of Kevin Magnussen, George Russell, Pierre Gasly and more taking to the runoff areas on their flying laps. 

All teams opted to partake in qualifying simulations on soft tyres in the latter half of the session. 

On their first soft tyre flying laps, Perez, Esteban Ocon and Sainz all made contact with the wall, escaping any damage to their cars and putting in impressive times beyond those recorded in FP1. 

In a dramatic turn of events, fire extinguishers were required on Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri when the engine cover unexpectedly caught fire as the Frenchman pulled into the pits. According to the team, the fire started when the fuel breather was incorrectly attached. 

Everyone was unharmed and Gasly returned to the track, finishing the session in P14. A different fuel system issue put Tsunoda out for the remainder of the session. 

FP3 will commence at 6:00 pm local time (8:00 pm AEST) followed by qualifying at 9:00 pm local time (11:00 pm AEST) on Saturday.

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