McLaren‘s Lando Norris delivered a lap record to lead the timesheets over George Russell’s Mercedes in the last practice session at Formula 1‘s Singapore Grand Prix.
The Briton delivered a blistering 1:29.646s on the Soft tyre to emerge 0.479 seconds quicker than Russell, who split the McLarens as Oscar Piastri propped up in third.
Piastri commended the improved balance on his McLaren MCL38 compared to the opening practice sessions, but he was almost eight-tenths back on his team-mate.
Red Bull also improved as Max Verstappen managed to sneak his RB20 into fourth place as Ferrari’s encouraging earlier pace dissipated on the red-walled compound.
Ferrari endure surprise struggles
Charles Leclerc bemoaned having little grip on his low-fuel tours as he languished close to a second down on Norris, with team-mate Carlos Sainz behind him in sixth.
Lewis Hamilton was unable to match Russell in the sister Mercedes as he placed seventh, with Alex Albon fronting a Williams eighth and ninth with Franco Colapinto.
Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10 in the lead Aston Martin, edging out Yuki Tsunoda’s RB and the two Haas drivers, Nico Hulkenberg edging Kevin Magnussen.
Sergio Perez endured struggles with his Red Bull as he was rooted to 15th place between the Alpine duo, Pierre Gasly maintaining his recent edge over Esteban Ocon.
Daniel Ricciardo needs a good result to bolster his chances at remaining on the grid in 2025, but the Australian was almost five-tenths behind RB team-mate Tsunoda.
Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin resided down in a low 18th place in the running order, ahead of the two Sauber drivers who once again brought up the bottom.
