Singapore GP FP3: Norris tops, Leclerc drops, Verstappen better
F1 NewsSaturday, 21 September 2024 at 12:34
Lando Norris topped the final practice session for the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix while his challenger from Friday Charles Leclerc dropped back.
Max Verstappen, on the other hand, seemed to have some improvement compared to Friday, showing some decent pace on the Medium tyre, but then struggling a bit on the Soft tyres. However he at least made it into the top ten, fourth fastest.
The session started in low grip conditions as rain washed out the track on Friday night, but McLaren remained the team to beat despite any changes in the conditions.
Norris's best lap was a clear warning to his rivals about his plans for qualifying, and while Leclerc was his closest challenger on Friday, he dropped back on FP3 not showing the same pace as yesterday. He was fifth fastest. Carlis Sainz was sixth.
And while Red Bull did some improving, the same applied to Mercedes as George Russell was second fastest behind Norris but almost half a second behind. Lewis Hamilton was slightly better as well but seventh fastest.
Oscar Piastri did not look as good as his teammate and was third fastest.
Williams continued their strong showing with Alex Albon eighth fastest while Franco Colapinto was ninth, as Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.
After showing strong pace on Friday, the VCARBS dropped back with Yuki Tsunoda 11th and Daniel Ricciardo down in 17th.
While Norris enters qualifying as favorite, that doesn't mean it won't be an interesting session especially as the conditions then would be quite different as it runs after sunset.
Buildup towards FP3
Friday at Singapore's Marina Bay Circuit showed that the top two, and very close contenders this weekend, would be Ferrari and McLaren as Leclerc was fastest in FP1 and Norris taking over in FP2, while their teammates, Sainz and Piastri, were trying to play catch up.
But the ones that were really in trouble were Red Bull and Mercedes the former lost out at sea with their RB20 while the latter were also struggling.
Verstappen's body language after practice told the whole story of his struggles with the car while Hamilton as well claimed nothing worked in terms of setting up the Mercedes W15.
Singapore was a challenge for Red Bull in their dominant previous years, so imagine how much they have to deal with this year with the RB20 in no way close to it's early 2024 dominance, or even compared to its predecessors.
Understeer marred Verstappen's RB20 on Friday which meant he was overheating his tyres towards the end of a lap.
Red Bull were three to four tenths off the pace in qualifying trim, the gap a little less worse in race trim, which means their engineers and drivers had a long Friday night analyzing the data and trying to come up with solutions for Saturday and qualifying.
The same applies to Mercedes who prove, race in, race out, that they have no idea what makes their W15 fast and what doesn't with tyre temperature a point Toto Wolff stressing on as the main issue, but Hamilton and Russell were not even happy with the balance of their cars on Friday in Singapore.
To make matter more interesting, the grip on track was back to square one as rain hit Singapore hard after practice and cleaned all the rubber laid down by the cars running all day on Friday.
So we head into the final practice. Will McLaren and Ferrari maintain their advantage? Will Red Bull and Mercedes find some solutions?
FP3 Session Highlights
After Friday night's rain, conditions were dry and clear when FP3 began with air temperature at 30 degrees Celsius with track temperature at 38 degrees.
The Aston Martins were the first to head out on track for some tyre scrubbing, but soon running was interrupted with a lizard fancying a stroll out on track as the other drivers were gracious enough to give the reptile some space.
But then the Red flag was out.
The session was restarted with less than 48 minutes remaining on the clock and now more drivers immediately made their way out on track.
13 cars were out on track while Verstappen, Ricciardo, Norris, Kevin Magnussen, Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, and Colapinto remained in the pits.
All the 13 cars were on Medium tyres except for the Saubers who started their session with the Soft tyres.
Esteban Ocon soon reported instability with his Alpine on turn-ins, while Piastri reported an improve in the balance of his MCL38 compared to Friday.
Pierre Gasly had a moment with a Mercedes at Turn 11, the Frenchman commenting: "Wow, that was very, very close."
Verstappen made his way out on track after 18 minutes of running and went fastest with a decent lap, while Norris' first lap was 0.252s slower in second.
The both improved after a second run.
Verstappen complained about cars in his way but reported that the car was "much better". He then reported that he was losing the rear in corners when his car was at "max steering lock".
Albon then hit the wall at Turn 15 and picked up a puncture. He had to go back to the Williams garage for some checkups.
Soon Leclerc went fastest from Verstappen after a third flying lap. Verstappen went out to respond and while he posted the fastest first and third sectors, he had a moment on the kerbs at Turn 7 which meant he could not improve and returned to the pits.
Russell had to go into the run-off area at Turn 14 as he failed to slow his car and turn it. He was soon back on his way.
Halfway through the session:
In the second half and with a little over 20 minutes remaining, the Soft tyres were bolted on the cars for some qualifying runs. Russell the first to do so.
Piastri had a moment on the kerbs at Turn 7 while on his first lap on the Soft tyre. Russell was fastest and Piastri behind him while others started to do their Soft runs.
After an encouraging start to the session Verstappen had a scruffy first lap full of understeer on the Soft tyres and was over four tenths slower than Russell's effort.
Norris on the other hand put in a scorching lap and took the top spot almost half a second quicker than Russell.
With less than 12 minutes remaining, a Yellow flag was up in Sectors 1 and 2. Russell was in the run-off area at Turn 7.
Sainz and Leclerc then started their Soft runs, the former messing up his lap to go fifth while Leclerc also did not put a decent lap, taking fifth from his teammate almost a second slower than Norris' time.
Leclerc radioed: "I just have no grip."
The Verstappen went out for another run on the Soft tyres. He doesn't improve after a moment on the kerbs at Turn 7.
Leclerc went out again after changes to the tyre pressures on his Ferrari and does not improve either.
The session ended soon after that with practice starts.
How they finished
Norris posted the fastest lap time of the session, 1:29.646 to go 0.479s faster than Russell in second while Piastri was 0.785s off the pace in third.
Verstappen's improved form was only good for fourth, 0.894s slower than Norris and 0.019s faster than Leclerc who was fifth and 0.248s faster than Sainz, sixth in the sister Ferrari.
Hamilton went seventh fastest, 1.218s off the benchmark time and 0.085s ahead of Albon who was a decent eighth with Colapinto 0.040s further behind in ninth.
Alonso was tenth, 1.436s away from the top.
Singapore GP FP3 Classification
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