F1 Singapore GP: Sainz shades Russell in FP3 to retain Ferrari supremacy

Amid a series of qualifying simulations over the second half of the session as the sun began to fall, Ferrari elected to wait for the track temperature to drop a little more before sending both drivers out for their first attempts at an all-or-nothing flying lap.

Sainz's 1m32.065s on his first push-lap on the soft tyres awarded him with top spot, and the Spaniard's time managed to withstand a late siege amid a flurry of qualifying simulations.

Sainz had earlier led the line before being displaced by Russell, as the Mercedes duo sat atop the order after the opening half-hour of running. Russell had been leading Hamilton as the two had eschewed the medium compound used by their front-running rivals for an early series of soft-tyre laps.

Russell's 1m32.364s on the soft had vaulted him back to the top, but was beaten by Lando Norris' 1m32.303s. The McLaren driver's time could not hold firm from Sainz's lap, as the two Ferraris took to the stage.

Although the Ferrari pair ran the risk of encountering a sector three yellow flag when Alex Albon went off at Turn 17, the green flag was waved at the chicane just in time for them to pass through unrestricted.

On a second tilt, Russell leapfrogged Norris to reclaim second while Sainz attempted to better his time on a second run - but the Monza polesitter instead found himself performing a 50-50 grind on the Turn 7 exit kerb and had to abort his run. Team-mate Charles Leclerc also had to back out of a lap after setting the fastest first sector, which denied Ferrari the chance of securing another practice 1-2.

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14 (Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images)

Norris ended the session third behind Russell, as Max Verstappen managed to get up to fourth with his final soft-tyre lap while experimenting with his upshifts throughout the session.

His first flying run ultimately fell 0.7 seconds short of Sainz's eventual best effort, and although hot-fix to the upshifts yielded a drop in lap time, Verstappen nonetheless continued to struggle for traction.

Leclerc backed out of his opening flying lap, and his next try could not offer anything further than fifth overall. After having to abort his third attempt, he ended the session two tenths clear of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes.

McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri was seventh fastest to beat Sergio Perez - who also struggled with an "on the edge" rear end and difficulty getting the front end of his Red Bull to bite. This put him just over a tenth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg's ninth-best time, as Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.

Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon fell outside of the first half of the field, ahead of the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll as the Silverstone outfit seemingly did not pursue any top-line pace.

Liam Lawson managed to rescue a spin at Turn 2 after dipping a wheel offline, and narrowly kept his AlphaTauri out of the barrier before continuing on with his session. Daniel Ricciardo's injury stand-in placed 16th, between Pierre Gasly and Albon.

Valtteri Bottas was 18th fastest but will be investigated by the stewards for not following directions regarding the pit entry, where he was seen to drift over the separating kerb onto the circuit before returning to the pit entry line. Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant propped up the order.

F1 Singapore GP FP3 Results:

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

       

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	23	1'32.065		197.977
2	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	20	+0.069	0.069	197.829
3	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	17	+0.238	0.169	197.467
4	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	21	+0.313	0.075	197.306
5	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	25	+0.316	0.003	197.300
6	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	18	+0.470	0.154	196.971
7	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	18	+0.665	0.195	196.557
8	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	20	+0.719	0.054	196.443
9	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	18	+0.831	0.112	196.206
10	Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri	22		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	18	+0.880	0.049	196.103
11	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	16	+0.905	0.025	196.050
12	E. Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	19	+0.914	0.009	196.031
13	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	19	+0.986	0.072	195.879
14	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	23	+1.061	0.075	195.721
15	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	19	+1.286	0.225	195.250
16	L. Lawson AlphaTauri	40		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	19	+1.292	0.006	195.237
17	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	15	+1.305	0.013	195.210
18	V. Bottas Alfa Romeo	77		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	26	+1.475	0.170	194.855
19	Z. Guanyu Alfa Romeo	24		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	24	+1.572	0.097	194.653
20	L. Sargeant Williams	2		Williams	Mercedes	16	+1.643	0.071	194.506
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