F1 Singapore GP: Norris pips Leclerc by 0.058s in second practice

Lando Norris was fastest in the second Formula 1 practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix, maintaining a tight battle with Charles Leclerc at the top of the timing boards.

Norris led the way with a 1m30.727s time as the two were separated by just 0.058 seconds, and with over half-a-second's gap over the rest of the field at the end of the session.

Amid the early runs on medium and hard tyres, as the drivers sought to get a picture of the track evolution in night-time conditions, the times swiftly ran through the gamut of laps set amid the 1m32s - Charles Leclerc bringing the field below the 1m33s bracket on the medium tyre.

He and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz continued to set the pace, trading fastest times, before Alex Albon beat them both - also on the medium - with a 1m32.238s effort.

Leclerc concluded the medium efforts at full speed with a 1m31.665s lap, which Albon found time on during his first effort on softs - a 1m31.650s.

Although Albon set the early pace, the slenderness of his margin over the Ferraris on mediums suggested there was more in it; this was duly proved correct when George Russell overcame his engine's limp mode setting and logged a 1m31.488s on his first effort on the softs.

Oscar Piastri swiftly beat this by 0.014s, noting that he perhaps needed more downforce in the car, but Norris pumped in the first time under the 1m31s mark of the weekend on his opening effort on the red-walled tyre, to set a convincing benchmark.

Leclerc got close, shadowing Norris by 0.058s with a slender margin between them, as Sainz was a further six-tenths behind in third.

Attention then shifted to the longer runs, starting with the soft tyres, as the drivers and engineers sought to use the only hour of representative practice running preparing for Sunday's race.

This yielded no further shuffling in times, ending with the same drivers occupying the top three positions as in FP1. Norris nonetheless had a couple of moments throughout the rest of practice, as he reported he "hit the wall pretty hard" amid the longer runs and later locked up at Turn 7.

Russell then went into the wall at Turn 8 in the final two minutes of the session, wedging his front wing under the barrier. The Mercedes driver managed to back his car out to avoid bringing out a red flag, with minimal apparent damage beyond his nosecone.

Yuki Tsunoda made his way into the top four, just over a tenth behind Sainz as the RBs continued to appear within the upper echelons of the pack.

And, like FP1, Piastri sat between the two RBs in the timing screen; Daniel Ricciardo was just 0.004s slower than his fellow Australian in the final order.

Russell ended up seventh fastest, ahead of Sergio Perez, while Albon and Nico Hulkenberg completed the overall top 10.

Lewis Hamilton ended the session 11th fastest, remarking that his comparative lack of pace - and visual unease with his Mercedes - was "unbelievable" having fallen over two tenths behind his team-mate. Championship leader Max Verstappen was only 15th in the final FP2 standings, 1.3s off the pace.

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Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	27	1'30.727		196.016
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	28	+0.058 1'30.785	0.058	195.891
3	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	27	+0.629 1'31.356	0.571	194.667
4	Y. Tsunoda RB	22		RB	Red Bull	28	+0.741 1'31.468	0.112	194.428
5	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	27	+0.747 1'31.474	0.006	194.415
6	D. Ricciardo RB	3		RB	Red Bull	26	+0.751 1'31.478	0.004	194.407
7	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	25	+0.761 1'31.488	0.010	194.386
8	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	25	+0.871 1'31.598	0.110	194.152
9	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	26	+0.923 1'31.650	0.052	194.042
10	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	26	+0.940 1'31.667	0.017	194.006
11	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	24	+0.982 1'31.709	0.042	193.917
12	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	25	+1.023 1'31.750	0.041	193.831
13	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	26	+1.066 1'31.793	0.043	193.740
14	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	25	+1.230 1'31.957	0.164	193.394
15	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	24	+1.294 1'32.021	0.064	193.260
16	F. Colapinto Williams	43		Williams	Mercedes	26	+1.330 1'32.057	0.036	193.184
17	E. Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	27	+1.392 1'32.119	0.062	193.054
18	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	27	+1.495 1'32.222	0.103	192.839
19	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24		Sauber	Ferrari	26	+1.632 1'32.359	0.137	192.552
20	V. Bottas Sauber	77		Sauber	Ferrari	26	+2.059 1'32.786	0.427	191.666
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