FP3: Leclerc tops rain-affected final practice

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the benchmark in the rain-affected final free practice for the Singapore Grand Prix, beating reigning world champion Max Verstappen and his team mate Carlos Sainz thanks to a late effort that saw him clock a 1:57.782 on a damp, but drying surface. F1Technical’s Balázs Szabó reports on Free Practice 3 of the Singapore Grand Prix.

While the opening day of the Singapore Grand Prix took place in good weather conditions, torrential rain arrived just ahead of the start of the final practice session. The rain was so heavy that the session had to be delayed by half an hour, meaning that drivers had only thirty minutes to get a feel for their cars ahead of the all-important qualifying session.

While the majority of the drivers kick off their day on the wet weather tyres, they all changed quickly to the intermediate tyres.

Lap times tumbled as the circuit dried out with Leclerc setting the benchmark with a 1m57.782s thanks to a late push lap. The Monegasque beat Verstappen by 0.526s on a weekend where the Red Bull driver could seal a second world title.

After setting the fastest lap Free Practice 2 yesterday in dry conditions, Ferrari’s Spanish driver Carlos Sainz ended up third fastest with Fernando Alonso finishing in an eye-catching fourth place.

George Russell finished ninth as Mercedes seemed to struggle with tyre warm-up on the damp surface, with Lewis Hamilton finishing 12th. The Anglo-German outfit appeared to be in great form yesterday, but the inability of their 2022 F1 car to generate enough heat into the tyres put them on the back foot in the difficult third practice.

Pierre Gasly was quick at the start of the session, but he eventually dropped down to P13, his team mate Yuki Tsunoda 15th in the other AlphaTauri.

McLaren had a dismal session as Lando Norris posted 16th for McLaren, over four seconds off the pace. His team mate Daniel Ricciardo finished higher up the order in P10, but he was also over three seconds off Leclerc’s benchmark time.

Haas driver Mick Schumacher will face an investigation due to an improperly fit right-rear tyre during a switch to inters. The German finished the session in P14 while his team mate Kevin Magnussen took 11th.

Williams‘ Alex Albon returned to the paddock after missing the Italian Grand Prix three weeks ago with the Thai driver taking 17th in the final practice. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished 18th and 19th respectively with Williams Canadian driver Nicholas Latifi rounding out the leaderboard.