Verstappen was only a tenth of a second off the pace in practice

McLaren headed the times at the end of practice on Friday in Singapore, as they have often done this year.

But Red Bull and Aston Martin had the most to be pleased about at the end of the first day of running at the Marina Bay circuit.

Teams’ 2024 performance in context

Singapore’s many slow corners and lack of high-speed bends makes this a track where the field tends to close up. This was largely the case last year, though Sauber had a particularly poor weekend.

McLaren were fastest overall last year but Red Bull, following an unusually poor performance at this track in 2023, rebounded to be the second-quickest team.

Teams’ lap times

The second practice session was disrupted by two red flags but most drivers managed to fit in a qualifying simulation run on soft tyres before the end. Lando Norris’s preparation was disrupted when he was hit by Charles Leclerc in the pit lane and sustained front wing damage.

However Oscar Piastri had a smoother session and his 1’30.714 stood as the best time of the day. This was barely any quicker than the best time seen on Friday last year and it’s clear the dusty track surface still has room to improve.

It was a mixed day for Racing Bulls as Liam Lawson crashed heavily but Isack Hadjar clicked with the circuit immediately. He set the second-fastest time behind Piastri.

But Red Bull also had an encouraging day. The key question facing the team as they arrived in Singapore was whether the gains they have made in recent races on low-downforce tracks would transfer to this high-downforce layout.

Previously this season Red Bull have tended to lag far off the pace in Friday practice, then close the gap drastically on Saturday. However in Singapore they have begun the weekend much closer to their rivals than usual. Verstappen was third, 0.143s off the pace, compared to his previous best of 0.199s off at Monza, where he was sixth.

P.#DriverTeamFP1 timeFP2 timeGapLaps
181Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1’31.4811’30.71444
26Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’31.7551’30.8460.13247
31Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’31.3921’30.8570.14343
414Fernando AlonsoAston Martin-Mercedes1’31.1161’30.8770.16342
54Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1’31.6981’31.1970.48340
618Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes1’33.0341’31.2220.50836
716Charles LeclercFerrari1’31.2661’31.4660.55243
831Esteban OconHaas-Ferrari1’32.1281’31.2980.58443
955Carlos Sainz JnrWilliams-Mercedes1’31.8121’31.2990.58547
1044Lewis HamiltonFerrari1’31.4801’31.4910.76640
1122Yuki TsunodaRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’31.8601’31.7080.99443
1287Oliver BearmanHaas-Ferrari1’32.5381’31.7110.99743
1323Alexander AlbonWilliams-MercedesNo time1’32.0601.34621
1427Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’32.3151’32.0691.35548
1563George RussellMercedes1’32.1391’33.2311.42528
165Gabriel BortoletoSauber-Ferrari1’32.6111’32.3191.60546
1710Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1’32.3781’32.4581.66446
1812Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedes1’32.3991’32.7191.68542
1930Liam LawsonRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’32.4611’32.6451.74737
2043Franco ColapintoAlpine-Renault1’33.3241’33.1392.42546

Teams’ progress vs 2024

As the Marina Bay street track tends to be very dusty at the start of a grand prix weekend, it is no surprise to see the lap times improving significantly from session to session. Therefore none of the teams have managed to beat the best times they set last year.

Sauber have got closest, which is unsurprising given their performance last year. Mercedes were furthest off as neither of their drivers ran the soft tyres in first practice and George Russell crashed before setting a representative time in the second session.

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