George Russell set the pace during free practice ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. His best time of 1m32.274 was nearly two tenths clear of second-place Charles Leclerc.
With this being the only free practice session of the weekend, the teams were keen to maximise running time. As a result, nearly every driver left the pits immediately, with most of the field running hard tyres to prep for longer runs.
Russell described his Mercedes as stiff but quickly got on the pace, alongside Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris. Norris had his fair share of close calls. The reigning world champion took to the runoff at turn 16 and later narrowly avoided the barriers at turn nine. The incident forced Norris onto the runoff yet again and almost triggered a collision with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg later reported gearbox issues, and his car was rolled into the pits under the virtual safety car.
With 20 minutes to go and the track rubbered in, attention switched to qualifying preparation. Russell was the first driver to switch to soft tyres and traded fastest times with former teammate Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages. Russell’s final run put him on top. After taking on a new engine following his mechanical failure in Malaysia (an incident that has all but ended his waning title aspirations), Russell will start from the back of the grid in Singapore.
Behind him and Leclerc, Norris put his incidents behind him to take third ahead of Hamilton. Oscar Piastri finished fifth, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The four-time champion has come to Singapore on a high, having secured both his and the team’s first win of the season at Sepang. Singapore is one of only two tracks on the 2026 calendar where Verstappen is yet to win. With the RB22 back on form, Verstappen will be on the march for another good result this weekend.
Championship leader Antonelli survived off-track excursions at turn one and turn 16 to secure sixth, ahead of Isack Hadjar. Alpine will be relying on a recent floor upgrade at Marina Bay in order to regain the initiative in the battle for fifth place in the constructors. Pierre Gasly took ninth ahead of Liam Lawson. Ollie Bearman ended the session 11th ahead of Arvid Lindblad, Esteban and Fernando Alonso. Aston Martin secured its largest points haul of the season so far in Malaysia and will be keen to build on it in Singapore.
Carlos Sainz set the 15th-fastest time, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.
The championship battle is effectively over. But with Red Bull on the march, Ferrari resurgent and McLaren keen to make up for lost time, there will be plenty to watch out for in Singapore.
