SINGAPORE GP – Carlos Sainz leads a Ferrari one-two in second practice just under two hundredths ahead of Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz was fastest by two hundredths in second practice ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. Ferrari looked very strong topping both of Friday evenings practice sessions at Marina Bay as they appeared to look very confident in the car.
Sainz set a 32.120 on the soft tyre, looking very strong through the first and middle sector in the only representative practice session, saw Leclerc go second on the medium tyre, allowing Sainz to remain fastest.
Leclerc was on pole for last year’s race, but the Monacan had looked to play down expectations on Thursday saying that he felt the SF23 is weaker on high-downforce tracks like Singapore compared to the low-downforce set-up required in Monza.
George Russell was third almost a quarter of a second behind Sainz. The Spaniard earlier in the session avoided contact with the wall, then couldn’t bounce back while the Mercedes driver went third. Russell recovered from his own tap with the wall over a tenth faster than Fernando Alonso, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton a five-time winner was conformably fifth, going over a tenth faster than the upgraded McLaren of Lando Norris. While the Ferrari car looked very balanced, the same could not be said for Red Bull who were surprisingly off the pace.
Going into this weekend, there has been talk of the race being the hardest for Red Bull to win and whether Max Verstappen’s ten race win run could end. Sergio Perez was seventh nearly half a tenth faster than Verstappen, with both drivers around seven-tenths off.
The Red Bull looked visibly struggling with handling and Perez said on team radio he felt like he was “going to crash” in every braking zone. Verstappen’s hot lap was impacted by traffic in the middle sector. Red Bull can secure the Constructors’ Championship this weekend but that is only possible if they secure a one-two finish in Sunday’s race.
Marina Bay was the place where in 2016 Mercedes was beaten on track for the first time, excluding the crash in Barcelona. Can history repeat itself? Perez looking nervous with the car, but was still four hundredths faster than Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Ferrari is looking for their first win since Spielberg last July, while Red Bull hasn’t been beaten in a Grand Prix or Sprint since Sao Paulo last November.
Kevin Magnussen was ninth three hundredths faster than Valtteri Bottas, the Nordic duo completing the top ten. Bottas also just over three hundredths faster than the second Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
Liam Lawson, who continues to sub for Daniel Ricciardo, continued to impress going twelfth nearly nine hundredths faster than Lance Stroll. Oscar Piastri going fifteenth, that could possibly be him getting used to the upgrades McLaren have brought to his car which Norris had at Monza.
Yuki Tsunoda was sixteenth, nearly two-tenths behind teammate Lawson. Guanyu Zho was seventeenth ahead of Pierre Gasly. The two Williams rounded out the field Logan Sargeant ahead of Alex Albon, but the British-Thai driver had a power unit issue meaning he didn’t manage a representative soft run.
Related
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