Lando Norris set the pace in the final practice session ahead of the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver going fastest by nearly half a second over George Russell, while Ferrari’s performance seemed to dip.
Friday’s practice sessions saw Charles Leclerc and Norris trade fastest laps with very narrow margins between them, leaving questions about who could challenge the pair in FP3, which began at 17:30 local time, offering one last opportunity for teams to prepare ahead of qualifying later that evening.
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2024 Singapore GP FP1: Charles Leclerc ahead of Lando Norris
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2024 Singapore GP FP2: Norris and Leclerc set the pace again
The session started quietly, with only Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll initially on track – briefly joined by a lizard that wandered onto the circuit, prompting a red flag as marshals worked to remove the reptile.
Once the session resumed, drivers headed out in droves, with most opting for medium tyres while Kick Sauber chose softs. Oscar Piastri reported feeling more comfortable with his car as he set the early pace, and Max Verstappen soon followed, claiming P1 and noting that his RB20 felt “much better.”
Pierre Gasly had a near miss in his Alpine, narrowly avoiding contact with the wall, exclaiming, “Woah, that was close” over the radio. Alex Albon wasn’t so fortunate, with replays showing his Williams clipping the barriers, though he returned to the garage for damage assessment.
At the halfway point, Leclerc moved to the top with a lap of 1m 31.525s, just a tenth ahead of Verstappen. Meanwhile, Russell experienced a brief off at Turn 14.
As teams switched to soft tyres for their final runs, Russell temporarily took the lead, while Piastri had a big slide after hitting too much kerb. Norris, however, had no such issues, putting in an impressive lap of 1m 29.646s, almost half a second clear of Russell.
Ferrari’s answer to Norris’ pace was underwhelming, with Carlos Sainz finishing sixth, 1.161s off the McLaren, and Leclerc aborting his first flying lap before eventually going fifth, 0.913s behind Norris.
Norris’ time remained unbeaten as the session concluded, with Russell and Piastri finishing second and third respectively. Verstappen took fourth, while Leclerc and Sainz followed in fifth and sixth.
Lewis Hamilton showed improvement from his tough Friday, finishing seventh, while Albon and his Williams teammate Franco Colapinto took eighth and ninth, the latter just 0.040s behind. Alonso completed the top 10.
Yuki Tsunoda placed 11th in his RB, ahead of the Haas pair Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, with Gasly and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez trailing behind. Esteban Ocon was 16th, followed by Daniel Ricciardo in 17th. Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, and Zhou Guanyu rounded out the field.
Singapore GP FP3 Results
2024 Singapore Grand Prix FP3, 21 September 2024
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