Friday practice was a difficult day for Mercedes and Red Bull are still chasing McLaren. Here is what unfolded for FP3 for the F1 2024 Singapore GP.
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
McLaren’s newly legal rear wing proved to be successful for the team as they remain on top. With cars on their faster qualifying setup in preparation for tomorrow, Mercedes had a lot to prove. Both Mercedes drivers and especially Hamilton spoke very negatively about the feel of their car. These issued semmed to have been amended with George Russell’s pace in FP3 for the F1 2024 Singapore GP.
Green Light Goes Out:
Drivers were keen to adjust to these unfavourable track conditions. it appears as though despite some teams being very quick, not many of them have found a setup they really like. A very premature red flag came out as in typical Singapore fashion, a lizard had invaded the track. A red flag is necessary as this species is protected and needed to be removed safely.
After a very comical red flag, the session was resumed safely. Ferrari have been especially strong this weekend just behind McLaren. The Scuderia have always been very strong on street circuits and this was no different in FP3. Speed was ramping up from yesterday’s session in preparation for qualifying later today. Bottas put in some impressive middle sectors going consistently purple however yesterday he was out-driven by his teammate Zhou Guanyu. A very common theme this weekend across most teams has been the struggle for traction and stability. While setups should have been settled by FP3, teams were still struggling to find good balance. An exception to this however was the ever-growing McLaren team. Oscar Piastri reported that his car felt much better than yesterday over the radio. Verstappen also reported some improvements with the feel of his car however traffic seemed to be hindering his lap times.
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
Are Red Bull Catching Up?:
Despite this, he took the top times approaching the halfway mark of the session. Pierre Gasly had a very close call with the stranded Mercedes of George Russell who appeared to have stopped next to a corner. Max Verstappen was particularly strong this weekend placing his car just 18 thousandths of a second in front of Norris. Red Bull have been doing everything they can to extend the championship gap and reclaim the constructor’s title. While on his flying lap run, he took quite abit of curb which allowed Leclerc to place above him with a 1:31.525, setting the top time. George Russell’s issues continued as he suffered a lockup, forcing him to come off the track and abort his lap. The smallest mistake in Singapore can really punish the drivers on this circuit.
Interestingly, Max Verstappen set the fastest time for all three sectors. Red Bull will want to carry over this pace into qualifying and the race as they have been catching McLaren in this session. Red Bull’s sister team RB have also surprised the paddock setting some impressive top 10 placing pace in both yesterday’s practice and in FP3. Mercedes have also picked their pace back up from yesterday as Russell went quickest producing a 1:30.125. Unfortunately for Hamilton, he was still having difficulty producing good lap times on the soft tyre. After keeping a close eye on Red Bull’s lap times, expectations were high for Lando Norris to stay ahead of the bulls. He exceeded this expectation setting a 1:29.646 which beat last year’s pole position lap by a whole second.
A very upset Charles Leclerc complained about the Ferrari’s pace over the radio which warped the expectations most people had for Ferrari’s pace from FP1 and FP2. As the session came to a close, Lando Norris remained on top with a phenomenal benchmark lap time. Another driver to recognise was George Russell who set some very competitive lap times. Unfortunately, his team mate Lewis Hamilton could not catch up to him and really struggled with his setup. We will see later today how this pace will carry over into qualifying in Singapore.
Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool.