Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari SF-23. 15.09.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 16, Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, Practice Day.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc ensured Ferrari remained unbeaten at the top on Friday in Singapore as the pair led a 1-2 in FP2.
Ferrari ended up two-tenths clear of its nearest competitor, with Sainz turning the tables on his team-mate to front the timesheets by only 0.018s
Unsurprisingly, lots of laps were accumulated during the only practice hour that will be held in comparative conditions to those experienced in qualifying and the race.
Consequently, though, there was plenty of traffic forming in the final sector of the truncated lap in the early stages.
However, the majority of drivers were able to post representative runs on the Soft tyre, with the exception of Williams’ Alex Albon.
The Anglo-Thai racer, who is aiming for a third consecutive points finish this Sunday, reported a loss of power in the opening exchanges and didn’t reappear on track.
Williams swiftly confirmed it was investigating a potential power unit issue on Albon’s car, leaving Sargeant to circulate in the sole remaining FW45 on the circuit.
Once the series of qualifying simulations had played out, the Ferraris emerged out front for the second consecutive session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
But this time it was Sainz who upheld the advantage, despite Leclerc going quicker through the first two sectors on his best run. The Monegasque driver admitted he had been caught out by traffic in the last sector.
Sainz’s table-topping time of 1:32.120s was 1.2s quicker than the benchmark time in FP1 and exactly 10s faster than the best effort posted this time last year. That falls in line with the pre-weekend estimation that the removal of Turns 16-19 in favour of a single straight would boost lap times by up to 10s.
George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14. 15.09.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 16, Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, Practice Day.
Both Mercedes drivers were also classified inside the top five, George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso split the two W14s cars, setting a time 0.9s quicker than Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll, who was absent from the top 10 runners.
Lando Norris utilised the upgraded McLaren car in its revised ‘Stealth Mode’ livery design to end FP2 in sixth place, nine places above team-mate Oscar Piastri, who will receive the fully updated MCL60 next weekend in Japan.
Red Bull encountered a challenging twilight session; reigning World Champion Max Verstappen could only wound up eighth, while team-mate Sergio Perez was seventh.
Although Haas has been coy about its chances until the team switches to the ‘downwash’ sidepod solution in Austin next month, Kevin Magnussen secured ninth.
The American entity was denied both cars in the top 10, however, by Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo pipping Nico Hulkenberg.
Liam Lawson, continuing to deputise for Daniel Ricciardo, was the lead AlphaTauri, four positions above team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. The two were separated by Esteban Ocon, Stroll and Piastri.
Guanyu Zhou, fresh from the news that he will remain at Alfa Romeo next year, was five-tenths shy of team-mate Bottas.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly endured a disappointing FP2, only clocking a time better than the Williams pair, with Sargeant half a second shy of the rest of the pack.
Keyword: Sainz fronts Ferrari 1-2 in Singapore FP2 session