Singapore Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Ferrari on top

Lewis Hamilton had surprised in the first free practice session, setting the fastest time. For this second hour of work, the conditions were closer to those on Sunday.

On the timing front, George Russell was the first to strike, with a lap time of 1’44:661, just over a second off the FP1 benchmark.

Nicholas Latifi encountered a relatively rare problem: his harness was improperly fastened, while Vettel went off track at the end of the second sector without any damages.

The Red Bulls and Charles Leclerc stayed in the garage at the beginning of the session. The situation is more problematic for the Monegasque, who seems to have a problem with the floor.

Meanwhile, the Mercedes, like the others on medium tyres, are playing an interesting tune: Hamilton is in the lead, after fifteen minutes, with a time of 1’44:091. His teammate Russell is in 3rd place, just behind a consistently impressive Fernando Alonso!

Carlos Sainz pulled out all the stops, still on yellow tires, with a time of 1’43:710, and then 1’43:231. Only three cars, at this stage, have not yet hit the track. But no one has put on soft tires, as if they are hesitant to consume them too quickly.

Max Verstappen finally managed to get out. It must be said that the Dutchman has a clear conscience for now, as nothing seems to stop him. He went out with the hard tires, which are equivalent to the soft tires that will be allocated in Suzuka.

Charles Leclerc finally put on his helmet before getting back into his SF-75. With half an hour remaining in these FP2 sessions, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez, and Kevin Magnussen opted for the red tires. The latter climbed back up to 5th place.

The rarely used racing simulations

Charles Leclerc only had half an hour to prepare for the rest of his weekend. A stark contrast with Sergio Perez, on soft tires, who first grazed and then touched the wall.

Carlos Sainz switched to attack mode, with a time of 1’42:751: the improvements came from all directions!

Esteban Ocon has a very well-performing Alpine in Singapore! The Frenchman was in the top 5, before the final 20 minutes, not far ahead of Fernando Alonso, who finished 7th.

For Pierre Gasly, who is supposed to be replaced by Nyck de Vries next year, he suffered a small fire on the top of the engine cover on his AlphaTauri.

Along the way, it was indeed the Ferraris that were dominating the discussions, as the first relay simulations began. Sergio Pérez carried out his race duties on soft tires, which will be favored at the start in the event of a dry track.

The Red Bulls shone through their discretion: Perez was only 8th and Verstappen only 14th.

In the end, Ferrari has found its form again, especially Charles Leclerc who hardly drove this Friday. Watch out for the Mercedes, they are not far behind!

Free practice 2 ranking