The rain has prevented filming in the first 30 minutes
Charles Leclerc has been the fastest driver with intermediates, followed by Max Verstappen
Carlos Sainz finished third and Fernando Alonso, fourth
The rain has made its appearance in Free Practice 3 in Singapore, which has limited the running of the pilots in the last session before qualifying. Charles Leclerc was the fastest rider on intermediate compounds followed by Max Verstappen, who was half a second off the Monegasque’s time. Carlos Sainz was third and Fernando Alonso, fourth.
Free Practice 3 of the Singpaur Grand Prix have started with the rain as the protagonist. At the scheduled time for the start of the session, time began to count down, but the Pit-Lane exit was closed for security reasons, so the drivers might not go out on the track.
After the first ten minutes, the safety car came out to check the condition of the track, but the Pit-Lane continued to be closed due to the amount of water accumulated on the track. After that, they have raised a yellow flag in all sectors as the commissioners have begun to work to evacuate the accumulated water.
Finally, following 30 minutes of session, the Pit-Lane traffic light turned green, which allowed the drivers to leave.
The person in charge of opening the track was Pierre Gasly, who has mounted wet tires and has obviously set a very slow time of 2’09″894.
Little by little the activity on the track has been increasing, all of them with extreme rain compounds, with the exception of Max Verstappen who has been the first brave person who has ridden intermediates.
Lando Norris completed the lap and improved Gasly’s time by two tenths, who entered the pits to mount intermediate tires.
Max Verstappen closed his first qualifying lap and took first place with a time of 2’06″872, but behind him Gasly crossed the finish line and dropped the Dutchman’s time by seven tenths. Both with intermediate times, which showed how the track was drying.
The Red Bull rider has taken a big step forward and has improved the best time by almost three seconds.
As for the Ferraris, Sainz completed a first stint on wet tyres, but soon started riding intermediates. For his part, Leclerc started directly with intermediates and placed fourth on his first lap on tyres, two and a half seconds behind Verstappen.
In his first lap of intermediates, Sainz has climbed to second position, six hundredths off the best time. He has also completed Alonso lap with intermediates and has placed seventh.
Charles Leclerc has improved Verstappen’s time and has been placed first, but Verstappen has completed the lap behind him. The Dutchman has recovered the first session and has broken the two-minute barrier in Free Practice 3.
The track was improving at times and this has been shown by the time table. Leclerc, on his fifth lap, stopped the clock at 1’58.899 and took first place, a time that Verstappen was unable to beat. And Sainz set the third fastest time.
The Mercedes have been ‘disappeared’ during the session and with three minutes to go they have taken a step forward, although still very late. George Russell has been placed ninth, while Lewis Hamilton has been placed twelfth, more than three seconds.
The Monegasque has been able to lower his time to a second in his next attempt, but Verstappen has not been able to with his challenge and has stayed half a second. Alonso also improved on his last attempt and was fourth, one and a half seconds behind Leclerc’s time and ‘first of the rest’.
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