Practice report

F1 Singapore GP: Russell tops FP1 with Verstappen also impressing

Russell may have topped FP1 in Singapore, but Verstappen led the medium-tyre runners by some margin

George Russell came fastest in the only free practice outing of Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix, but Max Verstappen was half a second quicker than anyone on medium tyres.

This was the only non-competitive running on the sprint Singapore weekend, albeit held in unrepresentative conditions – 53C track temperature – with regards to both upcoming qualifying sessions and the main race, which will be held at night.

Everyone therefore rushed out on track when the light went green at the end of the pitlane, with all cars but the Cadillacs on hard tyres, and started chasing the limits.

With the white-walled compound, Kimi Antonelli set the pace in 1m33.830s, outpacing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.034s and Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 0.056s.

Isack Hadjar was fourth, having complained that his Red Bull bottomed too much, especially in braking zones, and his throttle pedal was slippery. Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton followed within 0.6s of the benchmark.

Everyone else was more than a second down, starting with midfield leader Nico Hulkenberg for Audi. Verstappen was down in ninth, followed by Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso; Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon were another couple of tenths adrift.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

Hulkenberg however stopped on the main straight with 20 minutes remaining, indicating on the radio: “Something bad happened on the gearbox.” He was pulled into the pitlane while the virtual safety car neutralised the session.

Cars kept lapping on hard tyres, with Lawson jumping to ninth ahead of Verstappen, until softer rubber was fitted on for the last 15 minutes.

Despite running the older Mercedes specification, Russell was fastest by far on soft tyres, setting a 1m32.274s. This was two tenths faster than Leclerc and Norris, while Hamilton and Piastri were half a second adrift. They were the only five drivers to run the soft compound, except the Cadillac racers, who propped up the order.

Verstappen led the medium-tyre running in sixth with a 1m33.006s, half a second faster than championship leader Antonelli, who ran into the Turn 16 escape road on his final flying lap. Hadjar was seven tenths slower than his Red Bull team-mate.

Also on medium tyres, Gasly led the midfield for Alpine on a 1m34.038s, with Racing Bulls’ Lawson one tenth down and Haas’ Oliver Bearman three tenths adrift. Aston Martin, Williams and Audi were closely matched, albeit further down the order – but the green car’s progress was entirely down to Alonso, given Lance Stroll reported problems with his brakes.

F1 Singapore GP FP1 results

FP1

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	28	1'32.274		S	192.730
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	26	+0.198 1'32.472	0.198	S	192.317
3	L. Norris McLaren	1	McLaren	Mercedes	24	+0.273 1'32.547	0.075	S	192.161
4	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	26	+0.499 1'32.773	0.226	S	191.693
5	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	27	+0.564 1'32.838	0.065	S	191.559
6	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3	Red Bull	Red Bull	22	+0.732 1'33.006	0.168	M	191.213
7	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	28	+1.251 1'33.525	0.519	M	190.152
8	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6	Red Bull	Red Bull	27	+1.449 1'33.723	0.198	M	189.750
9	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Mercedes	26	+1.764 1'34.038	0.315	M	189.115
10	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Red Bull	25	+1.881 1'34.155	0.117	M	188.880
11	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	29	+2.057 1'34.331	0.176	M	188.527
12	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41	RB	Red Bull	27	+2.202 1'34.476	0.145	M	188.238
13	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	25	+2.207 1'34.481	0.005	M	188.228
14	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Honda	27	+2.221 1'34.495	0.014	M	188.200
15	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	31	+2.377 1'34.651	0.156	M	187.890
16	G. Bortoleto Audi	5	Audi	Audi	25	+2.462 1'34.736	0.085	M	187.721
17	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	30	+2.531 1'34.805	0.069	M	187.585
18	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27	Audi	Audi	16	+2.610 1'34.884	0.079	H	187.428
19	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	Alpine	Mercedes	27	+2.709 1'34.983	0.099	M	187.233
20	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Honda	26	+2.994 1'35.268	0.285	M	186.673
21	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11	Cadillac	Ferrari	21	+3.025 1'35.299	0.031	S	186.612
22	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77	Cadillac	Ferrari	25	+3.346 1'35.620	0.321	S	185.986
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