F1 Singapore GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP3
Saturday's final practice for the 18th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season
F1 completes its latest double-header with a now traditional trip to Singapore, as the season heads towards its crunch phase.
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Piastri: "Balance already feels better than yesterday."
A glowing reception for McLaren's overnight changes.
Russell's next over the line and goes second, splitting Piastri and Hamilton.
The Mercedes drivers are a tenth and three-tenths down on the McLaren.
Tsunoda goes second, make that third as Piastri ducks into the 1m32s.
Hamilton goes second to bump Alonso and Tsunoda down, with only the Sauber's on softs.
Alonso's time on mediums beats both Ferraris - Leclerc ahead of Sainz - with Perez fifth only, slower than Stroll.
Bottas goes fastest with a 1m34.5s on a set of soft tyres.
Ocon and Gasly slot in behind before Stroll lowers the benchmark, then does Alonso.
We are back under way and this time there is a flurry of activity to get out on track.
Aston Martin, Alpine, Ferrari, Sauber and RB all get going, as do McLaren and Red Bull.
It's worth pointing out that it is a protected species in Singapore, so a stoppage is entirely sensible - especially with little track activity ongoing anyway.
Red flags are out for the lizard!
It is strolling down the track before the final corner. Now it's running away from a marshal - a different type of race to what we are used to.
That prompts plenty of laughter up and down the pit lane.
Alonso went out on hards and then pitted for mediums. A usual heat cycle for the Silverstone-based outfit then.
Work has just been completed on Hamilton's car, so when he finally gets out on track, it will be interesting to see how it performs.
As the lizard is shown on TV, Albon is all smiles. He hasn't even got his race suit fully on at this stage, such is the lack of urgency to run.
The Aston Martins are joined by a lizard on track - rather a smaller specimen than some we have seen in previous years.
This really is reflective of the lack of representative data that can be picked up in this session.
But after 150 seconds, Aston Martin sends Stroll and Alonso onto the circuit.
FP3 is go!
Not that you would know by the lack of action in the pits.
This won't be a representative session as night hasn't fallen yet and temperatures are much hotter than qualifying or the race. That makes set-up searching even more difficult.
Will Red Bull find time? RB was faster yesterday and Verstappen was caught up in a swearing scandal, earning himself F1's equivalent of community service.
A much better day is needed.
Back to today's running and Mercedes has a lot to do before qualifying.
Hamilton said after FP2 that "at the moment, we won't be going into Q3". He was almost a second down on Norris and struggled to find a set-up.
McLaren's rear wing has been the main talking point this weekend. But what impact will changes have to the team?
Before we turn full attention to FP3, let's run through some of this morning's news stories, starting with a meeting between Pirelli and Russell.
The Mercedes driver was scathing in his criticism of F1's tyres in Baku but talks have been held between the two parties since.
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Hello and welcome back to coverage of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.
It's qualifying day but first, we have one more hour of practice to complete!
By: Ewan Gale
