Singapore GP FP2: Carlos Sainz Leads Ferrari 1-2 in FP2

Carlos Sainz returned to the top of timing sheets for Ferrari in FP2. The Spaniard posted a time of 1:42.587 on soft tires, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc who was 0.208s behind Sainz. Leclerc was forced to sit out half of the second practice session due to setup changes to his car. His brake issues problem was also investigated in the second session, which compromised his running in the first session. George Russell was the leading Mercedes in the 2nd session, finishing P3 ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Russell and Hamilton suffered traffic interruptions on their soft tire runs and expressed their feelings that there was still time to be found if their faster runs weren’t interrupted by traffic. Verstappen, like Leclerc, spent time in the pits where setup changes were being made to his car. Verstappen, who can wrap up the championship battle this weekend if Leclerc and Russell had an inferior race, said that there was room for improvement and the times posted weren’t the true reflection of the performance of his car.

Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez could not get a clean lap and posted a time that was only good for ninth fastest. Alpine continued their run of good form in the second practice. Estaban Ocon posted the sixth quickest time ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and his teammate Fernando Alonso. Lance Stroll rounded up the top 10 for Aston Martin. McLaren again failed to show any improved pace, with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finishing the session on P12 and P18, respectively.

Pierre Gasly also finished down the timing sheets compared to his FP1 run. He also faced a terrifying incident when his Alpha Tauri car caught fire when the team wheeled his AT03 into the garage. Quick action from Aston Martin’s pit member in extinguishing the fire ensured there wasn’t any extensive damage to Gasly’s car. Yuki Tsunoda also suffered impacted running due to a fuel system issue. Alexander Albon managed to survive another grueling session in Singapore’s very challenging conditions, finishing the session ahead of Nicolas Latifi at P16. Life was the slowest driver again on the grid in FP2, finishing last. FP2 may be the last practice session being run in dry conditions this weekend, as there is a forecast of rain in FP3.

FP2 Classification