Russell fastest in Singapore's lone practice, 0.198s clear of Leclerc
George Russell topped the only practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend with a 1m32.274s, 0.198s clear of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. With a sprint format there is just this one hour of practice, and it ran in daylight, so conditions differ from qualifying and the race.
FP1 top order: Russell ahead, Ferrari and McLaren chasing
According to the formula1.com classification, Russell led after 28 laps, with Leclerc (26 laps) at +0.198s and Lando Norris of McLaren third at +0.273s. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) was fourth at +0.499s, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) fifth at +0.564s and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) sixth at +0.732s. Kimi Antonelli was seventh at +1.251s, Isack Hadjar eighth at +1.449s, with Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson ninth and tenth.
| Pos | Driver (team) | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russell (Mercedes) | 1:32.274 |
| 2 | Leclerc (Ferrari) | +0.198s |
| 3 | Norris (McLaren) | +0.273s |
| 4 | Hamilton (Ferrari) | +0.499s |
| 5 | Piastri (McLaren) | +0.564s |
Mercedes: Russell on the old spec, Antonelli on the upgrade
The Race and Speedweek report that Russell ran the previous specification while Antonelli had the new upgrade. The Race notes the two were just 0.056s apart on hard tyres, with Antonelli ahead, and argues little can be concluded from his seventh place because he switched to mediums and went down an escape road avoiding traffic on his final proper lap. Russell set his best on softs with about three minutes left and briefly stopped at the side of the track late on, according to Speedweek. He starts the Grand Prix from the back after the engine failure in Malaysia.
Teams with problems
Nico Hülkenberg's Audi stopped at the end of the pit lane after he radioed a gearbox problem, and he managed 16 laps. A virtual safety car was used to recover it; there were no red flags. Verstappen and Red Bull lost several minutes in the garage with technical problems including a radio fault, and he completed 22 laps. Hadjar complained about his brakes and ground clearance. Most drivers ran hards for roughly the first 45 minutes before switching to softs and mediums for qualifying simulations. GPFans wrote that Verstappen was more than half a second faster than any other medium-tyre runner.
How to read it
Speedweek cautions that practice programmes, engine modes and fuel loads are unknown and the session ran in daylight, so the times are only a rough guide. Sprint qualifying follows tonight, which will show whether this order holds.