SINGAPORE GP – Max Verstappen fastest two hundredths ahead of Oscar Piastri in third practice
Max Verstappen was fastest in third practice for the Singapore Grand Prix; the Dutchman set a 30.148 to go just under two hundredths faster than Oscar Piastri. The Red Bull driver set his fastest time at the end of the session to put himself ahead of the McLaren going into what could be a hugely competitive qualifying with the top five being covered by nine hundredths.
Verstappen has never taken pole position in Singapore, and it’s the only venue on the current F1 calendar he is yet to win at. However, Red Bull appears to have turned a corner as the Dutchman has won the last two races to trail Piastri by sixty-nine points with seven rounds to go.
After a disrupted FP2 on Friday evening, featuring two red flags and various moments for a number of drivers, FP3 offered a last opportunity for the drivers and teams to make final preparations ahead of Qualifying later in the day.
McLaren, however did their qualifying sim on used soft tyres and they haven’t really shown what they were expected to be able to do. But, Piastri and Norris both set their best laps of final practice on older soft tyres, though they had the benefit of track evolution so it appears to be genuinely close at the sharp end of the field.
The Mercedes split the two McLarens with George Russel half a tenth behind Piastri as he went four hundredths ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli, while Lando Norris set the same lap time as the Italian. But the question going into qualifying is how close will it be when the temperatures drop and under the lights for qualifying. Antonelli was the first onto the soft tyres, but his time was nine hundredths off Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz put his Williams fifth; he was slightly further around a tenth and a half behind the front runners as the Spaniard went almost a tenth faster than Isack Hadjar. But it wasn’t a great session for Hadjar’s teammate, Liam Lawson who brought out the only red flag of the session when he lost control on the exit of Memorial Corner (Turn Seven).
Lawson appeared to get caught on the kerb, sending him into the wall, which broke his front wing and suspension, bringing out a brief red flag to recover his Racing Bull. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was noted for a red-flag infringement, as he went seven hundredths behind Hadjar.
Hamilton was nearly seven hundredths faster than Nico Hulkenberg, with his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc completing the top ten as he went just under a hundred and a half behind the Sauber.
Alex Albon put his Williams eleventh as he missed out on the top ten by seventeen hundredths, as he went three hundredths faster than Gabriel Bortoleto. Esteban Ocon was a hundred and a half ahead of his Haas teammate Ollie Bearman, with Fernando Alonso a tenth and a quarter further behind.
Yuki Tsunoda put his Red Bull into eighteenth, ahead of Pierre Gasly by two tenths and Lawson last, following his crash.