Singapore – Free Practice 3: Verstappen Confirms Red Bull’s Good Form

Red Bull, and particularly Daniel Ricciardo, dominated the first two practice sessions of the Singapore Grand Prix.

For this last hour of practice before qualifying, the Austrian team’s opponents have a lot of work to do, especially Ferrari, which was far behind yesterday and needs to find the right solution to shine on this track that seems to be favorable for them.

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen waste no time and are already in the top two positions. The German with a time of 1:43.237, followed by the Finn, a full second behind. Since the start of the weekend, the gaps between the drivers have been quite large. Yesterday, Ricciardo was half a second ahead of Max Verstappen!

In his first fast lap, Lewis Hamilton inserts himself between the two Ferraris but at a respectable distance from Vettel. Valtteri Bottas, sliding throughout his fast lap, is struggling a bit more and only achieves the 5th fastest time, behind an impressive Carlos Sainz in his Toro Rosso.

While the two Force India cars of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon climb to 2nd and 3rd positions, the Red Bulls embark on their first fast laps of the day. On Ultra Soft tires, like the rest of the field, Ricciardo clocks the second-fastest time, three-tenths behind Vettel on his first attempt. His teammate Max Verstappen launches a major attack and sets the fastest time at 1:42.249, a second better than the German’s Ferrari.

FASTEST: VER takes P1 with a 1:42.249

He’s almost a second quicker than any car that isn’t a Red Bull 💪#SingaporeGP #FP3 pic.twitter.com/rs9QFCsXql

— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 septembre 2017

A few seconds later, it was Ricciardo’s turn to pass the Ferrari, but 0.3 seconds behind the Dutchman who seems to have delivered a remarkable performance.

Lewis Hamilton complains about the traffic on the radio while Marcus Ericsson hits the wall and destroys the rear wing of his Sauber, causing a red flag interruption of the session for a few minutes, giving the track marshals time to clean up the debris.

RED FLAG: Session halted temporarily as ERI hits the wall and leaves debris on the track#SingaporeGP #FP3 #F1 pic.twitter.com/FtZ4rlo0ZP

— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 septembre 2017

Apart from Fernando Alonso, who has not yet set a time with his McLaren, and the two Saubers bringing up the rear, the weekend is once again complicated for Williams. Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll, 16th and 17th, are struggling the most to find the right settings and regain performance.

In the last quarter hour, the two Mercedes and the two Ferraris return to the track almost wheel to wheel. Vettel regains the best time at 1:41.919 while Bottas and Hamilton only manage the 4th and 5th best times with difficulty. The Silver Arrows are even outpaced by Fernando Alonso, who places his McLaren-Honda in 4th place! But Hamilton and Bottas put things in order in their second fast lap by recording the 3rd and 6th best times, more than half a second off the best time. The Finn is still outpaced by the surprising Renault of Nico Hülkenberg.

This is the moment chosen by the two Red Bull drivers to return to the track. Verstappen regains the best time by 72 thousandths of a second, while Ricciardo, despite being ahead of his teammate’s time, hits the wall and has to return to the pits slowly, with the right side of his car slightly damaged. On his deceleration lap, the Dutchman encounters an electronic problem and returns to his pit at a slow pace.

In a final effort marked by the record in the second sector, Hamilton takes the 3rd fastest time and positions himself ahead of the McLarens of Alonso and Vandoorne, who continue to surprise this Singapore weekend.

The complete session ranking:

🏁 INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP3) 🏁

Three practice sessions, three P1s for Red Bull as VER takes top spot#SingaporeGP #FP3 #F1 pic.twitter.com/TW0MC8trVo

— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 septembre 2017