Singapore – Free Practice 2: Räikkönen on top, Vettel in the wall!

This morning, it was the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen that outpaced the favorites for the world title by setting the two fastest times in the first free practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix.

But unlike the first session, all the drivers are quick to hit the track to set a time on the time sheet, wanting to take advantage of the nighttime conditions they will encounter for tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.

And for this first flying lap, it’s Sebastian Vettel who takes the advantage with his Ferrari over Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes by just 0.04 seconds, before Kimi Räikkönen comes and sets everyone straight on a second fast lap with a 1.40.510, two tenths ahead of the consistent Daniel Ricciardo in his Red Bull, before his teammate Max Verstappen closes in to just 0.03 seconds behind the Finn.

Well, that could have gone worse 😅

Hamilton locks up, narrowly avoiding Vettel 👀#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/zRw1bRJPS0

— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 septembre 2018

At mid-session, the drivers are in qualifying mode with the Hyper soft tires. Valtteri Bottas is the first to improve his time despite ending the lap with his Mercedes flirting with the barrier. The Finn is credited with a lap time of 1:39.368. He is immediately beaten by his teammate Hamilton, who completes a very clean lap in 1:38.710. However, during his second fast lap, the Briton misses the first braking point and goes into the escape road. The current championship leader is visibly annoyed by this minor mistake.

Kimi Räikkönen, however, made everyone agree by beating Hamilton by 11 thousandths of a second while his teammate Sebastian Vettel had not yet gone out for his qualifying simulations, forced to return to the pits after a slight brush with the wall during one of his attempts.

Vettel skims the wall on a hot lap, and immediately dives into the pits 👀#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/1eH6BoZVXR

— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 septembre 2018

Focused on aerodynamic tests, the Williams cars spend a lot of time on the track. Perhaps too much, as the brakes on Lance Stroll’s single-seater catch fire and the Canadian must return his car to the pit as slowly as possible…

The series of long stints for race simulation has begun within the teams, generally with Super soft tires.

Behind the three untouchable teams, Renault seems to have an interesting pace, both in fast laps and during long stints. Nico Hülkenberg is in 10th place and Carlos Sainz in 6th. A surprising Fernando Alonso manages to bring his McLaren into the middle of the pack in 8th position, but the reality of the qualifications is likely to disappoint the men from Woking once again.

The full standings of FP2:

FP2 CLASSIFICATION (90/90 MINS)

Kimi Räikkönen heads the charge in FP2, with Hamilton close behind#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 #F1 pic.twitter.com/SrCtAiJTwx

— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 septembre 2018