Mercedes driver George Russell led Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in practice at the Singapore Grand Prix. A late lap from Leclerc, who was 0.198 seconds off Russell's pace, split up what had been an all-British top three. McLaren's Lando Norris was third fastest, 0.273secs behind Russell, and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton fourth, 0.499secs off the pace. The top five, concluded by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, were all on the soft-compound tyres, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen was the fastest driver using medium tyres in sixth place.
The four-time champion was 0.732secs off the pace and 0.519secs quicker than Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli behind him in seventh, also on the medium tyres. It was the only practice session of the weekend, with sprint qualifying taking place at 13:30 BST. The split between tyre compounds made it hard to form any conclusions about relative pace.
Russell will start Sunday's race from the back as a result of a penalty for using too many engine parts, following his engine failure while running third in the closing stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. He and Antonelli are also running different specifications of car, with Russell reverting to a previous spec and the Italian the new aerodynamic package introduced in Malaysia. This is so Mercedes can get a better read of whether the upgrade package is working after struggling for pace in Malaysia.
Verstappen took his and Red Bull's first win of the year at Sepang and looked quick at times before tyre strategies diverged. Alonso dropped back in the closing stages to finish 14th. Racing takes place amid record levels of air pollution in Singapore, caused by haze from wildfires in Indonesia, and citizens are advised to limit outdoor activities.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing