It took a bit of time for drivers to adjust to night driving in Singapore.
MARINA BAY CIRCUIT—Singapore—September 20th—During Friday night’s practice sessions, both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton proved they are drivers to watch at Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix. Hamilton set the fastest time of the evening, clocking 1:38:773, while Verstappen was second in the final session, only 0.184 seconds behind. That performance made up for his earlier best time of 1:40:259.
Ferrari, who was quickest during the last two races, only improved by way of Sebastian Vettel taking third in the evening session.
Charles Leclerc, who won in both Belgium and Italy, had a horrible night. He took 16th following a gearbox failure and then the sixth position, respectively on Friday.
Valterri Bottas, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, finished the second session in fourth place. That made up for a mishap in the first session, when the Finn crashed at turn 17 and brought out the only red flag session of the evening. Alexander Albon also finished in the top five, but he had to work for it. The Thai ran wide at turn 10 in the second session and ran straight into the wall. That incident damaged the front wing, but Albon was able to get back to the pits for repairs.
Following their last two disastrous races, McLaren showed positive results, improving on their current fourth-place standing in the constructors’ championship. Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris placed seventh and ninth positions, respectively.
The loss of his Red Bull seat didn’t seem to bother Pierre Gasly in his Toro Rosso. He and teammate, Dani Kvyat, placed 10th and 11th, respectively. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was not far off that standing in 12th.
But it was another disappointing night for the American Haas F1 team. The newly signed Romain Grosjean took 17th, while Kevin Magnussen ended up 19th.
Hamilton and Verstappen looked good on Friday. Vettel could be a Sunday surprise as he searches for his first win of the season. Bottas and other drivers are hoping that a change of weather and driver attrition will give them a chance to win more points and, perhaps, get a shot at the podium.
