Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco and McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris topped the free practice sessions for the Singapore Grand Prix, the eighteenth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, after exchanging first place in the two sessions.
Ferrari and McLaren showed speed yesterday on the streets of Marina Bay Circuit, while Dutch world champion Max Verstappen continued to struggle with his Red Bull, finishing fourth in the first session and 15th in the second session.
Leclerc took first place in the first session, 0.076 seconds ahead of Norris, while his Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz came in third, 0.113 seconds behind.
Mercedes cars seemed clearly out of the competition, with Britain’s Lewis Hamilton finishing 12th and his teammate George Russell finishing 16th.
The second McLaren driver, Australian Oscar Piastri, who won the previous race in Azerbaijan, finished sixth in the first session, then fifth in the second, which was led by his teammate Norris, 0.058 seconds ahead of Leclerc, and Sainz came third, 0.571 seconds behind Norris.
The Singapore race comes as McLaren lead the constructors’ standings, having overtaken Red Bull after Piastri won in Azerbaijan and team-mate Norris finished fourth ahead of Verstappen, reducing the gap between them and the world champion in the drivers’ standings to 59 points.
