On the narrow streets of Marina Bay, Norris and Leclerc leave everyone else behind. As expected, Red Bull struggled.
Friday is in the books, with the second free practice session at the Marina Bay street circuit just concluded. The fastest of all was Lando Norris, who edged out his competition by only 58 thousandths Charles Leclerc. Third,but over 6 tenths behind, was Carlos Sainz, just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, with the Racing Bulls showing strong performance on this circuit, a fact confirmed by Ricciardo’s sixth-place finish. Verstappen only finished fifteenth, though he did not have a perfect lap.
Regarding the race, one key variable could be the weather: although Saturday is expected to be the “worst” day, Sunday will see cloudy skies with a chance of showers. Therefore, we may have an unpredictable race in this regard, similar to what happened in 2022.
Regarding tyre selection, Pirelli brought the same compounds as in Baku: C3, C4, and C5, which are the softest compounds available. Additionally, the Singapore circuit is a street track, so like last week, there will be less grip. Therefore, starting on Soft tires could be an advantage. Just like in 2023, we’re expecting a one-stop race: last year’s winner, Carlos Sainz, managed his tires exceptionally well, while the Mercedes attempted an extra stop but couldn’t gain the pace needed to overtake.
Finally, another variable is the Safety Car: it has been deployed at least once in all fourteen editions of the Singapore Grand Prix, totaling 24 occurrences. Therefore, the appearance of the Safety Car will definitely provide an opportunity to pit while losing less time.
This could be the opportunity to solidify sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Race pace analysis FP2 Singapore: here are the lap times from this afternoon
The Norris-Leclerc duel we saw in the qualifying simulation is also reflected in the race pace analysis. Unless there are major surprises during tomorrow’s qualifying, they will compete for the victory in Sunday’s race, with both having a great chance to close the gap on championship leader Max Verstappen, who seemed to struggle a bit less in race pace compared to his single-lap performance.
For his race simulation, Lando Norris chose the Soft tyre, which is the softest compound and will likely be used in the early stages of the race. His simulation was initially interrupted by a slight impact with the wall. After a quick check in the pits, the English driver resumed his program, posting very fast times until the sixth lap, where he encountered traffic from Guanyu Zhou’s Stake.
However, in his attempt to overtake him after following for three laps, Norris made a mistake and went wide in turn 7.
Charles Leclerc‘s race simulation, using medium tires, was more consistent, with the first four laps steady at 1:37.3. However, he later encountered traffic from Valtteri Bottas’s other Stake. Carlos Sainz also performed well, though he didn’t quite match his teammate’s level.
Mercedes seems to have taken a step back, both in single-lap pace and race simulation: both drivers opted for medium tires, frequently running under 1:38. However, it’s worth noting that George Russell ended his session with a mistake, hitting the wall after locking up in turn 8.
Regarding Red Bull, Max Verstappen stated yesterday that this will be one of the team’s most challenging weekends. His words have been confirmed on track, with the Dutch driver and championship leader finishing only fifteenth in the FP2 standings, while Perez was eighth. A bit better in the race simulation, with both drivers opting for hard tires, a choice that contrasts with the other top teams. They were fairly consistent, running between 1:37 and 1:38.
PHOTO: F1, Mclaren, GPKingdom