Singapore GP: Verstappen fastest as officials launch Lewis Hamilton investigation

Max Verstappen topped a hugely competitive final hour of practice ahead of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver pipped Oscar Piastri to top spot, though the leading five were split by less than a tenth of a second in a session that saw Liam Lawson crash out and Lewis Hamilton reported to the stewards.

Max Verstappen inches Oscar Piastri in tight final practice

Oliver Bearman was the first car on track, joined by teammate Esteban Ocon, along with Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto in the early moments of the 60-minute session.

On a set of medium tyres, Bearman was the first to begin a timed lap in conditions largely misrepresentative of qualifying and the race – with the flood lights yet to take full effect as the afternoon sun lingered. A 1:33.986s was comparatively steady, more than three seconds down on Oscar Piastri’s Free Practice 2-topping time from Friday.

It wasn’t a lap that stood for long as the bulk of the field soon headed out, with Lando Norris and Piastri quickly rising to the top inside the opening eight minutes.

There was an early near miss with Alex Albon and Norris as they exiting the Singapore Sling midway around the lap. The Williams driver approached the back of last year’s race winner and only narrowly avoided nosing into the McLaren’s gearbox.

The opening moments were unusually busy, with all 20 drivers on track in the opening stanza. That saw the track quickly rubber up, having been washed by overnight rain, evidenced by Norris logging a 1:31.021s with 13 minutes completed.

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“Lando, welcome back. That was a very good lap,” came the message from engineer Will Joseph after an underwhelming Friday.

Williams had both Carlos Sainz and Albon towards the top of the timesheets, though their early efforts saw them as the only team on a set of soft tyres.

After 15 minutes, the red flag was thrown when Liam Lawson hit the wall at Turn 7. The Racing Bull bottomed out on the exit kerb, before gripping up and firing him into the wall on drivers’ right. The impact sprayed debris as the right-hand side of Lawson’s car, especially the front corner, took the brunt of the impact.

It was his second crash of the weekend, having found the barrier at the penultimate corner on Friday, making for a tough build-up to qualifying for the Kiwi.

The session resumed with 36 minutes remaining making for a nine-minute stoppage, with the field queuing at pit exit before slowly filtering back out once running resumed.

Norris remained fastest under the stoppage from Sainz with Bearman third, the meaningful and representative running (what little of it is possible given the condition difference) yet to truly begin.

Soon after the restart, Sainz pinched a brake coming off the Esplanade Bridge and skated into the run-off, ruining what looked to be a faster lap. Still, he remained on the soft tyres.

Soon after, Albon in the other Williams improved to sit second, 0.152s away from Norris’ best, which was set on the mediums.

Mercedes fitted the red tyres midway through the session, with Kimi Antonelli going fastest of anyone through the middle third of the lap. At the end of the tour, he was quickest with a 1:30.760s despite not even mustering a personal best to the first third.

With 24 minutes left, Verstappen reported that he was beginning to lose the rear tyres, suggesting he was on a race run rather than a qualifying simulation. He sat seventh fastest at the time, 0.766s away from the outright pace.

After the busy start to the session, the track became far quieter with around 20 minutes remaining; Isack Hadjar, Charles Leclerc, and Fernando Alonso were the only three left out on track.

It was the precursor to the final flurry, which began with Leclerc shooting to the top of the timesheets, on the soft tyres, with a 1:30.651s.

Behind him on track. Norris was going faster, setting purple times in the first and third sector to go quickest by 0.267s. It was a time Piastri was unable to match, completed a 1:30.627s just moments later. That left him second best, but quickly became third as Lewis Hamilton squeezed his Ferrari between the two McLarens.

It came as it was confirmed that the Ferrari driver would be investigated post-session for a red flag infringement amid suggestions he accelerated after clearing Lawson’s stranded Racing Bulls.

Leclerc had preparations for a timed lap interrupted when Lance Stroll passed him heading into the final chicane, only to immediately slow as the Aston Martin looked to build a gap for his own lap.

George Russell complained that he was struggling for confidence despite going second fastest, his best 0.049s off Verstappen’s session topper. The Dutchman had logged a 1:30.148s to usurp Norris, who’d been pushed down to third approaching the final seven minutes of the hour.

The soft tyres were proving fragile, capable of standing up for a single lap but falling off sharply.

Inside the final moments, Verstappen and Colapinto came close to contact as they moved off the racing line to allow Pierre Gasly through. As they turned right off the Esplanade Bridge, Verstappen on the very inside was almost driven into by Colapinto who was to his left and trying to remain off the racing line. Somehow they avoided contact, and Gasly was able to carry on with his lap without external delays, though he remained 19th and faster only than Lawson.

The final minute was busy, with both Mercedes drivers showing well, with Antonelli in third. That became fourth when Piastri completed his final timed lap, falling 0.017s shy of Verstappen. Russell was third just 0.049s off top spot, with Antonelli and Norris on identical times at 0.089s away from Verstappen.

Singapore GP Free Practice 3 results

1 Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:30.148
2 Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:30.165
3 George Russell, Mercedes, 1:30.197
4 Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:30.237
5 Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:30.237
6 Carlos Sainz, Williams, 1:30.392
7 Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, 1:30.489
8 Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:30.559
9 Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:30.637
10 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:30.651
11 Alex Albon, Williams, 1:30.668
12 Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, 1:30.697
13 Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:30.784
14 Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:30.799
15 Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:30.923
16 Franco Colapinto, Alpine, 1:31.047
17 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1:31.260
18 Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, 1:31.440
19 Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1:31.643
20 Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 1:33.628

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