Charles Leclerc leads Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz in FP1 at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen returns to F1 action this weekend. The Dane had to miss last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix after accumulating enough penalty points for a race ban. Oliver Bearman replaced him for the weekend.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is not optimistic about his team’s chances this weekend. The Dutchman believes his team’s target for qualifying is to “reach Q3”. However, McLaren driver Lando Norris believes people shouldn’t count out Red Bull.
Light turns green
RB driver Daniel Ricciardo was the first driver to exit the pitlane onto the Marina Bay Circuit. The Australian could be under a lot of pressure this weekend with recent rumours of him being replaced by Liam Lawson after this weekend.
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly had issues trying to exit his garage. The Frenchman almost went into the pit wall as he could not turn his A524 sharp enough.
Zhou Guanyu was the first driver to set a lap in this session. The Chinese driver set a 1:39.454 on the medium compound. However, his teammate Valtteri Bottas went quicker, setting a 1:38.010.
Mercedes driver George Russell then went quickest, setting a 1:37.829. However, his teammate Lewis Hamilton beat his time, setting a 1:36.128 on the hard compound.
Norris found himself at the top soon after. The Briton set a 1:35.522 on the medium compound. RB driver Yuki Tsunoda then went quickest, setting a 1:34.862 on the medium compound.
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz found himself at the top, setting a 1:34.720 before Verstappen beat the Spaniard’s time, setting a 1:34.417.
Norris, once again, set a time good enough for first. The McLaren driver went over five tenths quicker than the Dutchman, setting a 1:33,903.
Drivers struggling with brakes
Meanwhile, Magnussen reported on the radio that his “brakes are terrible”. Russell had a slight lock-up, having to venture onto the escape road. The Briton reported that the car was “quite stiff at the front”. Tsunoda also wasn’t happy with his “brake performance”.
At the quarter-way mark,Â? Leclerc went quickest of the hard tyre runners, setting a 1:34.039, going second overall. Norris further improved his time on the medium tyre, setting a 1:33.119 – over eight tenths quicker than anyone else.
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez went in too deep in the final sector, locking up and going into the escape road. The Mexican brought out double-waved yellow flags. Meanwhile, his teammate Verstappen was complaining of understeer, suggesting his tyres might be getting too hot.
After just over a third into the session, Leclerc went quickest, setting a 1:32.702 on the haard compound tyre. The Monegasque went just under five tenths quicker than Norris’ time. Meanwhile, Tsunoda is still not happy with his brakes, describing them as “terrible”.
Soft tyre runs
Norris was the first driver to switch to the soft tyre. The Briton was hustling his car around the Marina Bay Circuit, going close to the wall at Turn Three. The McLaren driver went quickest, setting a 1:32.165.
Verstappen set his laptime on the soft compound. The reigning world champion went two tenths slower than Norris. Meanwhile, Hamilton was a further three tenths back from Verstappen.
Albon jumped up into third place, going just under three tenths within Norris’ time. Leclerc quickly snatched third off Albon – just over three tenths off Norris. The Monegasque set the quickest middle sector.
Tsunoda went up to second, going only 0.098 seconds slower than Norris. Sainz quickly took the spot off the Japanese driver, going 0.001 seconds slower than the McLaren driver at the top.
However, Norris further improved his time at the top. The McLaren driver set a 1:31.839, going over three tenths clear of Sainz. Leclerc went close to Norris’ time – only 0.037 seconds off the Briton’s time.
Verstappen jumped up to third, going two-and-a-half tenths slower than Norris. However, Sainz quickly reclaimed the third spot, going just over a tenth slower than the McLaren driver.
With 15 minutes to go, Leclerc went quickest, setting a 1:31.763 on the soft compound. The Monegasque went 0.076 seconds quicker than Norris.
Mercedes have been struggling in this session, with Hamilton complaining of “too much understeer” with his W15. The seven-time world champion was also struggling with traction.
Piastri brushed the wall in the middle sector. The Australian finds himself in sixth.
Leclerc ended the session quickest ahead of Norris and his teammate Sainz – all within two tenths.
Results
- Charles Leclerc
- Lando Norris
- Carlos Sainz
- Max Verstappen
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Oscar Piastri
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Alex Albon
- Fernando Alonso
- Esteban Ocon
- Franco Colapinto
- Lewis Hamilton
- Pierre Gasly
- Sergio Perez
- Lance Stroll
- George Russell
- Kevin Magnussen
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nico Hulkenberg
feature Image Credit: Glenn Dunbar via LAT Images