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. # Driver Team FP1 time FP2 time Gap Laps
1 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1’31.481 1’30.714 44
2 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 1’31.755 1’30.846 0.132 47
3 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda RBPT 1’31.392 1’30.857 0.143 43
4 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes 1’31.116 1’30.877 0.163 42
5 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1’31.698 1’31.197 0.483 40
6 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 1’33.034 1’31.222 0.508 36
7 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’31.266 1’31.466 0.552 43
8 31 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1’32.128 1’31.298 0.584 43
9 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Williams-Mercedes 1’31.812 1’31.299 0.585 47
10 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1’31.480 1’31.491 0.766 40
11 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull-Honda RBPT 1’31.860 1’31.708 0.994 43
12 87 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1’32.538 1’31.711 0.997 43
13 23 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes No time 1’32.060 1.346 21
14 27 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1’32.315 1’32.069 1.355 48
15 63 George Russell Mercedes 1’32.139 1’33.231 1.425 28
16 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber-Ferrari 1’32.611 1’32.319 1.605 46
17 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1’32.378 1’32.458 1.664 46
18 12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1’32.399 1’32.719 1.685 42
19 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 1’32.461 1’32.645 1.747 37
20 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Renault 1’33.324 1’33.139 2.425 46

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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