Spanish driver Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) set the best time (1:32.065) of the final free practice sessions of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, confirming the Italian team’s dominance in training, while Red Bull continued to struggle to progress. quickly, while Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), also from Spain, took thirteenth place.
A session that was characterized by low grip and low track temperature at the start due to heavy rain two hours earlier, so the drivers rushed in the final minutes to make a quick one-lap attempt on the soft tires.
For this reason, the medium tire was the protagonist in the first 45 minutes of Free Practice 3, in which Red Bull continued to have stability problems, but improved compared to Friday and reduced the gap to the best times.
Dutchman Max Verstappen, current championship leader and winner of the competition’s last ten races – the best series in history – made two errors by going wide at Turns 1 and 9 on separate laps; This reflects the difficulties he is having with a car that has not shown these weaknesses in any previous Grand Prix.
A Verstappen who constantly complained on the radio about problems with upshifts until he assured that he “couldn’t run like that”. The reigning world champion finished the third free practice session in fourth place, 313 thousandths behind Sainz’s best time.
Checo Pérez continued to have problems
For his part, his teammate, the Mexican Checo Pérez, announced on the radio that the Red Bull’s braking and grip problems were still there, as on Friday, and finished eighth in the last free practice session before qualifying.
Ferrari experienced some training sessions in Singapore with completely different feelings than Red Bull, especially Carlos Sainz, who once again topped the timesheets.
After scoring two one-twos on Friday, the Spanish driver confirmed the good performance of the Italian cars, while his teammate, Monegasque Charles Leclerc, finished fifth.
Fighting with the Mercedes were the Brits George Russell (second) and Lewis Hamilton (sixth) as well as Lando Norris (third), who was also British but from McLaren.
Top positions from which Fernando Alonso, double winner in Singapore in 2008 and 2010, was far away.
The two-time F1 world champion (2005 and 2006) ended up in 13th place, 986 thousandths of a second behind the best time set by Carlos Sainz, with feelings many times worse than the fifth place in Free Practice 2, in which, moreover, he showed on long distances a great racing speed.
– Schedule of the third and final free practice Singapore GP:
.1. Carlos Sainz ESP Ferrari 1:32.065
.2. George Russell GBR Mercedes a 0.069
.3. Lando Norris GBR McLaren at 0.238
.4. Max Verstappen NER Red Bull with 0.313
.5. Charles Leclerc MON Ferrari a 0.316
.6. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes a 0.470
.7. Oscar Piastri FROM McLaren at 0.665
.8th. Sergio Pérez MEX Red Bull at 0.719
.9. Nico Hülkenberg to GER Haas 0.831
10. Yuki Tsunoda JAP Alpha Tauri with 0.880
11. Kevin Magnussen DIN Haas with 0.905
12. Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine with 0.914
13. Fernando Alonso ESP Aston Martin with 0.986
14. Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin to 1,061
15. Pierre Gasly FRA Alpine with 1,286
16. Liam Lawson NZL Alpha Tauri 1,292
17. Alex Albon THA Williams with 1,305
18. Valtteri Bottas FIN Alfa Romeo with 1,475
19. Zhou Guanyu CHN Alfa Romeo a 1,572
20. Logan Sargeant USA Williams with 1,643.
