Leclerc And Norris Share The Spoils On A Fast Friday In Singapore

Lando Norris was quickest come the end of the first day of the Singapore Grand Prix. The McLaren driver set his best time in the second session, stopping the clocks in 1’30”727, 58 thousandths quicker than second placed Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari: both drivers are already under last year’s pole position time set by Carlos Sainz (1’30”984).

The fact that the track is considerably quicker than a year ago was already evident in FP1, when the same two drivers topped the time sheet, but in the reverse order, first the Monegasque in 1’31”763, second the Englishman in 1’31”839, also quicker than last year’s Friday times.

In terms of tyre usage, the initial impression is very different to last Friday in Baku, even though the three dry tyre compounds are the same. In Azerbaijan, the white-banded Hard was barely seen, with only Alpine and Mercedes doing significant runs with them, whereas here all the drivers used a set of C3s: 13 in the first session, seven in the second.

The “colour chart” on the long runs was also varied, with all three compounds used in race simulations for Sunday, even the Soft which usually does not see much use in the race.

Charles Leclerc – Fastest in FP1

“The car felt good, but there’s still some work ahead of us to get it to feel exactly as I want it to. It was a good starting point, now we have to find the right balance and put it all together in qualifying tomorrow. The weather forecast for the rest of the weekend is changeable, so we will have to adapt very quickly. I would be surprised to see the same gap behind us again tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if the pecking order will change.”

Lando Norris – Fastest in FP2

“I’m happy with today, a positive start to the weekend in tough conditions! We’ve got good competition with Ferrari looking strong, but we’ve started the weekend off on the right foot with some strong laps today. The hard work doesn’t stop, and we’ll look to make progress before Qualifying tomorrow evening.”

Mario Isola – Pirelli Director of Motorsport

“A day that could be described as normal. Two hours of free practice went off without a hitch, with all teams trying all three available compounds, also with different fuel loads. From what we saw today, there was no graining, not even on the Soft, which could open the door to its eventual use on Sunday. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how the teams tackle the third free practice sessions while there’s the mandatory selection of the Hard and a Medium, some could choose to hold back two Mediums while others might prefer having an extra set of new Softs for qualifying.

“The track proved to be considerably quicker than last year, to the extent that the 2023 pole time has already been beaten. Apart from the inevitable improvement in car performance from one year to the next, it could also be down to the fact that the track, at least on the racing line, has been cleaned with high-pressure jet washers, which means the track surface offers better performance and is much cleaner. However, lap times will continue to come down as the track rubbers in, so it is conceivable that in qualifying we could even get below the 1’29”200 predicted for pole by the simulations provided by the teams going into this Grand Prix.

“One unknown factor could be the weather, as one can never rule out heavy showers here, straddling the Equator, which could see a reset of track conditions and a loss of the grip built up so far.”