Leclerc quickest as rain cuts final Singapore practice session to half an hour

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was quickest in a wet final practice session that featured only half an hour of track running.

Leclerc’s best time of a 1’57.782 on intermediate tyres on a drying track was just over half a second quicker than Max Verstappen, with Carlos Sainz Jnr third fastest in the second Ferrari.

Heavy rain fell during the W Series qualifying session which preceded third practice session for Formula 1. It persisted following that disrupted session, leaving the track soaked as the final practice hour approached.

With the circuit still extremely wet, race director Eduardo Freitas chose to begin the session but keep the pit entry closed, preventing any drivers from taking to the track. This allowed the session to finish without a delay which would have forced the start of qualifying to be pushed back.

It was a long wait as the rain ceased and the marshals around the Marina Bay course brushed away as much standing water as they could. After almost half the session had elapsed, Freitas confirmed the pit lane would be opened at the half-hour mark.

The green light at the end of the pit lane signalled that the track was open, but none of the 10 teams were keen to send their cars out onto the still wet track. Eventually AlphaTauri opted to send out Pierre Gasly, who was soon followed by team mate Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo.

Lando Norris set the early benchmark time on the wet tyres with a 2’09.642, but was soon called in by his team to switch to intermediate tyres. Max Verstappen chose to head out on the intermediates and immediately proved it was the correct tyre for the conditions by posting a 2’06.872.

Williams’s Nicholas Latifi briefly triggered the yellow flags by having to brake to a stop at turn 13 to avoid hitting the barriers, but he was able to reverse out and continue. Mick Schumacher was brought into the pits to change tyres but was told to stop the car immediately after being released from the Haas pit box as mechanics feared his right-rear wheel had not been fastened correctly. The stewards will investigate the incident after the session.

As the track continued to dry, lap times began to drop. Leclerc went fastest, dropping under the two minute mark. In the final minutes, Leclerc lowered his own best time to a 1’57.782, while Verstappen moved into second with a lap just over half a second slower.

The damp track continued to catch drivers out. Gasly took to the escape road at turn 18 after missing his braking point, briefly bringing out the yellow flags. George Russell made a similar error into turn seven and had to make a 180 degree spin turn to escape from the run off.

Leclerc’s best time was not beaten, leaving him quickest as the chequered flag flew and half a second faster than Verstappen in second. Sainz ended the session third, a second behind his team mate, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll. Esteban Ocon, Sebastian Vettel, Russell and Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10.

2022 Singapore Grand Prix third practice result

Position	Number	Driver	Team	FP1 time	FP2 time	Gap	Laps
1	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	1’44.138	1’42.587		47
2	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1’43.435	1’42.795	0.208	31
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1’44.066	1’42.911	0.324	47
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1’43.117	1’42.926	0.339	28
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1’43.033	1’43.182	0.446	42
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1’44.736	1’43.412	0.825	47
7	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’45.725	1’43.431	0.844	50
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	1’45.336	1’43.520	0.933	34
9	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1’43.839	1’43.906	1.252	28
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’45.221	1’43.982	1.395	33
11	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1’46.680	1’44.013	1.426	38
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’45.354	1’44.249	1.662	46
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1’46.028	1’44.422	1.835	44
14	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	1’45.258	1’44.469	1.882	46
15	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’46.408	1’44.524	1.937	50
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1’46.119	1’45.144	2.557	45
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	1’46.081	1’45.211	2.624	37
18	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	1’45.724	1’45.447	2.860	39
19	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	1’46.601	1’45.623	3.036	46
20	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	1’47.092	1’46.553	3.966	43

2022 Singapore Grand Prix combined practice times

Position	Number	Driver	Team	FP1 time	FP2 time	FP3 time	Gap	Laps
1	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	1’44.138	1’42.587	1’58.848		59
2	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1’43.435	1’42.795	1’57.782	0.208	42
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1’44.066	1’42.911	2’1.010	0.324	57
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1’43.117	1’42.926	1’58.308	0.339	40
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1’43.033	1’43.182	2’1.220	0.446	50
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1’44.736	1’43.412	2’0.911	0.825	56
7	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’45.725	1’43.431	2’2.066	0.844	61
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	1’45.336	1’43.520	1’59.429	0.933	43
9	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1’43.839	1’43.906	1’59.526	1.252	39
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’45.221	1’43.982	2’0.373	1.395	44
11	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1’46.680	1’44.013	2’1.791	1.426	51
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’45.354	1’44.249	2’1.007	1.662	57
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1’46.028	1’44.422	2’1.089	1.835	57
14	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	1’45.258	1’44.469	2’1.245	1.882	61
15	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’46.408	1’44.524	2’2.599	1.937	61
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1’46.119	1’45.144	2’1.907	2.557	58
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	1’46.081	1’45.211	2’1.679	2.624	51
18	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	1’45.724	1’45.447	2’1.036	2.860	52
19	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	1’46.601	1’45.623	2’1.502	3.036	59
20	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	1’47.092	1’46.553	2’3.510	3.966	53

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