SINGAPORE GP – Charles Leclerc fastest by three quarters of a tenth ahead of Lando Norris in first practice
Charles Leclerc was fastest in first practice ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, the Ferrari set a 31.763 on the soft tyre to put himself three quarters of a tenth ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris. However, the late afternoon sessions in Singapore aren’t the most representative session this being a night race.
Norris spilt the two Ferraris as he went just over a tenth faster than Carlos Sainz, in a session which proved to be trouble-free as the circuit rubbered in. The McLaren driver had turned up the pace through out the session but did not manage a lap on the soft tyre, having led the opening runs on the second runs he was first beaten by Sainz, but then went just over a tenth faster before Leclerc topped the times.
Norris heads into the weekend fifty-nine points behind Max Verstappen in the championship and needs to keep eating into the Dutchman’s lead to keep his title hopes on track. The Englishman had led most of the session before Leclerc’s late improvement. Marina Bay was the only race Red Bull failed to win last year, but go into this weekend having lost the lead of the constructors for the first time since 2022.
Verstappen put his Red Bull fourth going a tenth and a half behind Yuki Tsunoda, with the RB driver exactly half a second off the pace of Leclerc. Tsunoda was six thousandths faster than Oscar Piastri as he spilt the RBs going a six thousandths faster than Daniel Ricciardo, the McLaren driver having his session delayed by an attached tyre.
Piastri also had a light brush with the wall and Fernando Alonso a bigger moment at the exit of Stanford (Turn Eight) but both kept the car out of the wall. But the Aston Martin driver accidentally pressed the button saying he would pit while correcting it. While the second McLaren was just over a tenth behind Alonso.
Ricciardo goes into this weekend with rumours spreading about his future as his underperformance has led to speculation he could be replaced by Liam Lawson from Austin in a months time. The Australian will now hope to maintain that form through the entire weekend, although whether or not a strong showing will change anything in the team’s thinking about his future would appear doubtful amid frenzied speculation that he will be replaced from the next race.
Alex Albon put his Williams eighth as he went a quarter of a second faster than Fernando Alonso, while Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten. Franco Colapinto was eleventh having missed out on putting his Williams in the top ten by three thousandths of a second.
Mercedes had a low key start to the weekend, Lewis Hamilton twelfth as he went a hundredth and a half faster than Pierre Gasly. Sergio Perez was fourteenth a second off Leclerc’s pace as the pressure over his own future has appeared to shifted within Red Bull/RB to Ricciardo, the Mexican was a hundredth faster than former teammate Lance Stroll.
George Russell put his Mercedes sixteenth, he was half a second behind Stroll and ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas by four hundredths. The Dane returning following his one-race ban for reaching the limit of penalty points, going ahead of both Sauber’s with Valtteri Bottas exactly a tenth ahead of teammate Guanyu Zhou. While Nico Hulkenberg completed the field.