Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr topped the time sheets in the second practice session for Formula 1's Singapore Grand Prix, beating teammate Charles Leclerc to top honours. Under the lights at Marina Bay, Sainz was quickest through the qualifying simulation runs, but a variety of disruptions for other drivers meant the order was somewhat jumbled. The Spaniard's 1m:42.587s was good enough for P1, 0.295s clear of Leclerc in the sister car, but the latter did not complete a soft-tyre run. Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were third and fifth - but did not get clean laps on their first efforts - with Esteban Ocon sixth for Alpine Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull, limited to just one late flying lap, on the weekend he can become a two-time champion if results go his way.
Sainz tops FP2
Sainz and Hamilton traded the initial fastest times on the Medium tyres at the start, the former's 1m:43.231s attempt good enough to give him the benchmark time as the field pitted to begin their qualifying simulation runs. Alex Albon was first to attempt a red-walled Soft tyre run, going eighth for Williams, as Sainz shaved off half a second to go to a 1m:42.751s. He later improved to a session best 1m:42.587s as Leclerc slotted in behind, having lost a chunk of time due to the floor going on late after checks. He did not complete a Soft tyre run until the final 10 minutes of the session. It was only a 1m:42.795s, leaving him 0.208s behind Sainz, despite being a tenth up through the first sector. As for Russell and Hamilton, they struggled with traffic on their first attempts, with the Soft tyres only lasting for one flying lap. Russell was 0.324 slower than Sainz, with Hamilton 0.595s behind the lead Ferrari. As for Verstappen, a late set-up change on the front suspension had him leave the garage late, where he only completed one flying lap on the Hard tyre before not emerging again. Sergio Perez was eighth, having had drivetrain problems.
Bottas leads Alonso
In seventh Valtteri Bottas put in a strong effort for Alfa Romeo, 0.844s adrift of Sainz, as Fernando Alonso backed up Ocon's sixth with eighth - just over a tenth behind the Frenchman. Lance Stroll - who hit the wall in FP1 - was 10th, with Lando Norris and Sebastian Vettel the drivers just on the outside of the top 10 looking in. Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly and Zhou Guanyu were the other drivers within one second of Sainz's time, the Chinese driver 1.937s slower. Gasly faced a scary incident in the pit-lane when flames briefly erupted from his car as he was being wheeled back in. Fortunately he jumped out and was uninjured and was able to return to the track. Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo were within two seconds of Sainz's time, as Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi were 3.036s and 3.966s slower, respectively. It meant Latifi finished both Friday sessions in P20.
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