F1 Singapore GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP2

Hello and welcome to Autosport's live text coverage of second practice from the Singapore Grand Prix. Thank you for joining us - now let's take a look over some of the headlines over the past few hours.

Swearing was already on the agenda this weekend before Verstappen's sanction, following an exclusive interview with Autosport given by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in which he revealed that a request has been lodged with FOM to limit the communication of bad language. Ben Hunt says that while the topic has generated plenty of chatter in the paddock, there are far bigger issues to address.

Returning to the topic of McLaren's rear wing, it has issued the following statement: "Whilst our Baku rear wing complies with the regulations and pass all FIA deflection tests, McLaren have proactively offered to make some minor adjustments to the wing following our conversations with the FIA. We would also expect the FIA to have similar conversations with other teams in relation to the compliance of their rear wings."

This follows comments from McLaren chief designer Rob Marshall earlier today that made clear other teams are also under scrutiny. You can read what he had to say here.

With all the chatter about rear wings and swearing, let's not forget that F1 cars will be back on track in a little over five minutes' time for second practice at the Marina Bay circuit. This time, they'll be under the lights in conditions far more representative of those that will be encountered during qualifying and the race.

Rewinding a little bit to a few hours ago, Charles Leclerc topped the FP1 times ahead of Lando Norris for McLaren. How much of that should be attributed to the new front wing brought to Singapore by the Italian team, only its engineers will be able to say. Click here for more on what has changed and why. 

Everybody has now ventured out onto the track, with a mixture of hard and medium compounds bolted on. Softs will enter the chat a little later on in this one-hour session.

Perez has been shown a black and white flag for failing to follow the race director's instructions. He crossed the white line at pit exit when he came around the corner and found an Aston Martin trickling along the round ahead of him - presumably a few ducklings being ushered along in front of the green machine. Or should that be a family of lizards, based on past precedent...

Ricciardo has now gone quickest, ducking under Leclerc's benchmark on a 1m32.652s. Norris also improves, coming in just a fraction behind him.

Leclerc now fires back to the top of the times. F1 drivers are playing an intricate game of by how little a margin they can inch the benchmark lower; the Monegasque beats Sainz by 0.017s.

But before Leclerc can get comfy atop the times, here comes Albon with a 1m32.238s which puts him three tenths quicker than the Ferrari man.

There's currently a 2.8s spread between Albon at the front of the pack and Bottas at the rear. The Finn is the only man currently slower than 2022 Singapore winner Sergio Perez, who is 19th as things stand in the Red Bull.

Verstappen isn't doing a great deal better than Perez at this stage. The championship leader is 14th, having just gone over the kerbs at Turn 7. That would constitute a lap deletion if this were in qualifying.

Russell becomes the closest challenger to Albon by moving into second, dislodging Tsunoda. As we approach one third distance in the session, at what point will teams consider shifting onto the soft tyre for some qualifying simulations?

"All over the place," is the response from Perez when he's asked how his last lap was by Red Bull. Hamilton meanwhile is struggling with understeer; the Mercedes driver 15th, one spot ahead of his Mexican counterpart.

Here comes Albon to top the times on softs. It's a 1m31.650s, although it's only a shade quicker than Leclerc.

Relief abounds in the Mercedes garage as Russell gets back up to speed again after crawling around the lap, reporting "I have limp home" on his dash.

With most of the field now switching to softs, we've got improvements all over the place. Norris, Piastri, Ricciardo and Russell are your new top four at the moment, but stand by for more changes...

We noticed that Albon's first run on the softs didn't move the needle too much. Part of the reason why will be a glance of the wall with his right-hand tyres entering Turn 7. 

Norris it is then who ends the first run of soft tyres on top with a 1m30.727s, 0.087s ahead of Leclerc. The pair are seven tenths up on Tsunoda and Piastri, with Ricciardo fifth ahead of Russell.

Sainz now pops up into third, but is a whacking six tenths down on his team-mate.

"Is that sarcastic?" is the response from Tsunoda when told by his engineer "good job on the delta". 

Colapinto is the latest driver to graze the wall, this time at Turn 17, plucking a piece of advertising hoarding off with a tap from his right-rear wheel.

"It's unbelievable mate," replies Hamilton when informed of his lap for P11 on the soft, which is nine tenths back. He's not a happy camper in the cockpit.

Both Aston Martins set personal bests last time, enough for Alonso to move into 12th and Stroll 14th. Meanwhile, Gasly vows "I'll remember him" as Perez inadvertently gets in his way.