The first practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix ended with the customary Mercedes one-two, but their rivals were closer than usual around the street circuit.
Nico Rosberg headed the times but Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari both ended the session within half a second of the quickest Mercedes – the latter despite a brief off at turn five towards the end of the session.
Kvyat returned to the track shortly before the end but his run and everyone else’s was curtailed when Alexander Rossi hit the barrier at turn 18. The Manor driver, who has taken over Roberto Merhi’s car this weekend, had been just 15 thousandths of a second off his team mate’s pace.
Max Verstappen, making his debut on the Singapore track, ended the session in seventh place behind Valtteri Bottas. Team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr joined him in the top ten, as did Pastor Maldonado, though Lotus brought him into the garage early in order to check his gearbox.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’47.995 | 27 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’48.314 | 0.319 | 24 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’48.331 | 0.336 | 21 |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’48.494 | 0.499 | 23 |
| 5 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’48.785 | 0.790 | 20 |
| 6 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’49.380 | 1.385 | 19 |
| 7 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’49.466 | 1.471 | 17 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’49.854 | 1.859 | 21 |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’50.019 | 2.024 | 28 |
| 10 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’50.068 | 2.073 | 21 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’50.123 | 2.128 | 21 |
| 12 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’50.125 | 2.130 | 23 |
| 13 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’50.158 | 2.163 | 18 |
| 14 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’50.341 | 2.346 | 23 |
| 15 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’50.455 | 2.460 | 21 |
| 16 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’50.883 | 2.888 | 21 |
| 17 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’51.035 | 3.040 | 18 |
| 18 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’51.188 | 3.193 | 8 |
| 19 | 28 | Will Stevens | Manor-Ferrari | 1’53.903 | 5.908 | 20 |
| 20 | 53 | Alexander Rossi | Manor-Ferrari | 1’53.918 | 5.923 | 18 |
First practice visual gaps
Nico Rosberg – 1’47.995
+0.319 Lewis Hamilton – 1’48.314
+0.336 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’48.331
+0.499 Sebastian Vettel – 1’48.494
+0.790 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’48.785
+1.385 Valtteri Bottas – 1’49.380
+1.471 Max Verstappen – 1’49.466
+1.859 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’49.854
+2.024 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’50.019
+2.073 Pastor Maldonado – 1’50.068
+2.128 Fernando Alonso – 1’50.123
+2.130 Sergio Perez – 1’50.125
+2.163 Felipe Nasr – 1’50.158
+2.346 Romain Grosjean – 1’50.341
+2.888 Marcus Ericsson – 1’50.883
+3.040 Felipe Massa – 1’51.035
+3.193 Daniil Kvyat – 1’51.188
+5.908 Will Stevens – 1’53.903
+5.923 Alexander Rossi – 1’53.918
HUHHII (@huhhii)
18th September 2015, 12:42
Kvyat on podium this weekend.
caci99
18th September 2015, 12:49
Oh, that’s a given. Question is, who will get the other spots of the podium :)
pSynrg (@psynrg)
18th September 2015, 12:54
@huhhii Not if Max has anything to do with it!
Indiana
18th September 2015, 13:21
Max “The Kid” Verstappen first podium this weekend? Let’s hope so….he is the real deal and legend in the making
Senna 2.0
David-A (@david-a)
18th September 2015, 13:00
Flip the order and he will be.
Excuse me :D (@square-route)
18th September 2015, 13:08
^ Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
18th September 2015, 13:14
These buy-out rumors are getting more rediculous by the week :D
lockup (@)
18th September 2015, 14:22
Lol
Nase (@)
18th September 2015, 13:25
It was interesting to see how quickly Nico Rosberg found a rhythm. He set a low 1:50 ten minutes into the session and improved to a mid-1:49 shortly after, with the rest of the top teams lapping a couple of seconds slower. So that’s a good start for him, as he probably won’t need to change his setup too much.
The question is: Is he really using his 4th PU already, or were Mercedes able to resurrect his updated engine from Monza?
kanan
18th September 2015, 14:43
That was ridiculously funny for some reason :D
Willem Cecchi (@)
18th September 2015, 13:39
The bottom picture: Unsafe release by Manor…
Todfod (@todfod)
18th September 2015, 14:10
Massa looking quick this weekend
Excuse me :D (@square-route)
18th September 2015, 14:12
he is too old for this :P
lockup (@)
18th September 2015, 14:24
Shame for Rossi. Really not what he needed.
Apex Assassin
18th September 2015, 14:42
15 thousandths off Stevens best time already.
Ludwig_M
18th September 2015, 14:29
I was thinking “hm, Rossi’s first session is going quite well” literally seconds before he hit that wall :-)
Apex Assassin
18th September 2015, 14:42
well now Stevens is in the wall too… neither had proper tyre pressures and both are in a 2014 car. Coincidence?
kpcart
18th September 2015, 15:10
of all the tracks, this is the track that shows which chassis are the best… last year with Mercedes massive power advantage, they finished only .2 seconds ahead of redbull in qualitying. this tracks also proves that Mercedes advantage is mainly because of power unit. I predict a Ferrari pole!