Singapore, FP3: Leclerc quickest as heavy rain cuts running short

Verstappen 2nd, Sainz 3rd

By Franck Drui

1 October 2022 - 13:12
Singapore, FP3: Leclerc quickest (...)

Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, beating championship leader Max Verstappen by half a second as heavy rain meant that just half an hour of running was possible at the Marin Bay Street Circuit.

With the rainfall making conditions treacherous the session was started on time but the pit exit remained closed as race control monitored the situation. The rain began to recede and after half an hour conditions were good enough for the green lights to be turned on and for running to commence.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was the first driver on track and the Frenchman ventured out on the blue-banded full wet Pirelli tyres. Almost ten minutes later Verstappen joined the action on intermediates and when the Red Bull driver immediately jumped to the top of the order, the green-banded tyres became the defauly choice for the rest of the session.

Verstappen was briefly headed by Gasly, but the Red Bull driver then began to take chunks out of his own best time eventually working his way down to 1:59.456, making him the first man under the 2m barrier.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc then improved to 1:58.899 and then found another huge chunk of time in the final stages to claim P1 with a lap of 1:57.782. The proved too much for Verastappen who settled for second with a time of 1:58.308, while third place went to Carlos Sainz, who finished a full second off his Ferrari team-mate’s pace. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth ahead of Serio Pérez in the other Red Bull and he was followed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.Sebastian Vettel was eighth in the other Aston Martin, George Russell was ninth for Mercedes and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the top 10.

Pos.DriverCarTimeLaps
01 Charles Leclerc Ferrari F1-75 1:57.782 11
02 Max Verstappen Red Bull RBPT RB18 1:58.308 12
03 Carlos Sainz Ferrari F1-75 1:58.848 12
04 Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault A522 1:59.429 6
05 Sergio Perez Red Bull RBPT RB18 1:59.526 11
06 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 2:00.373 11
07 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault A522 2:00.911 6
08 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 2:01.007 11
09 George Russell Mercedes W13 2:01.010 10
10 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes MCL36 2:01.036 13
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari VF-22 2:01.089 13
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W13 2:01.220 8
13 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 2:01.245 15
14 Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari VF-22 2:01.502 13
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 2:01.679 14
16 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes MCL36 2:01.791 13
17 Alex Albon Williams Mercedes FW44 2:01.907 13
18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 2:02.066 11
19 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 2:02.599 11
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes FW44 2:03.510 10

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