FP1: Practice P1 for Verstappen

Editor

Max Verstappen started his Singapore Grand Prix weekend with a P1 as he headed a Red Bull 1-2 in a practice session that saw title contender Nico Rosberg lose his front wing.

On a hot evening in Singapore Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg became the latest drivers to run the Halo.

As with his team-mate in Belgium, Hamilton did more than just an installation lap as he ran the cockpit protection device throughout his opening stint.

The Brit went P1 with a 1:47.369, 0.006s up on Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel while Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull Racing, 0.098s off the pace. Rosberg was fourth.

As the track was cleaned by the drivers laying down the laps, Verstappen went P1 with a 1:47.335 but Rosberg answered that with a 1:46.513 – and on the soft tyres.

Back out for a second run on the ultras, Vettel improved to P1, lost it to Verstappen who in turn lost it to Daniel Ricciardo.

Verstappen came back with a 1:45.823 to beat his team-mate by 0.049s. Vettel was a further four-tenths off the pace.

Hamilton and Rosberg, lapping on the soft tyres, were fourth and fifth, 0.603 and 0.690s off the pace. There was also drama for the German as he went nose first into the barriers at Turn 18, losing his front wing in the process.

Kimi Raikkonen was sixth quickest while it was a good session for Toro Rosso as Carlos Sainz, running the updated package, and Daniil Kvyat were P7 and P8 respectively.

Jenson Button’s practice looked to have ended without a full lap completed as he coasted to a halt on the side of the track, reporting that his McLaren had “stopped, we are not going to make it back to the pits I don’t think.”

Given his proximity to the pits, Race Control permitted the marshals to push him back to the pit entrance much to the relief of everyone at McLaren-Honda. Button covered 20 laps and finished P16.

Over at Haas, Romain Grosjean did not have as much luck. He reported a problem on his second lap out with Haas revealing that it was a “low intake pressure.” The team added: “Bodywork off, investigating possible leak. Session over.”

Times
1  Max Verstappen  Red Bull 1’45.823 25 laps
2  Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull 1’45.872 +0.049 27 laps
3  Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari 1’46.287 +0.464 22 laps
4  Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes 1’46.426 +0.603 24 laps
5  Nico Rosberg  Mercedes 1’46.513 +0.690 22 laps
6  Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 1’46.890 +1.067 20 laps
7  Carlos Sainz Jr.  Toro Rosso 1’46.936 +1.113 28 laps
8  Daniil Kvyat  Toro Rosso 1’47.683 +1.860 29 laps
9  Felipe Massa  Williams 1’48.044 +2.221 27 laps
10  Esteban Gutierrez  Haas 1’48.109 +2.286 23 laps
11  Fernando Alonso  McLaren 1’48.202 +2.379 21 laps
12  Sergio Perez  Force India 1’48.214 +2.391 28 laps
13  Nico Hulkenberg  Force India 1’48.359 +2.536 28 laps
14  Valtteri Bottas  Williams 1’48.453 +2.630 26 laps
15  Felipe Nasr  Sauber 1’49.595 +3.772 16 laps
16  Jenson Button  McLaren 1’49.615 +3.792 20 laps
17  Jolyon Palmer  Renault 1’49.794 +3.971 27 laps
18  Kevin Magnussen  Renault 1’50.263 +4.440 29 laps
19  Pascal Wehrlein  Manor 1’51.112 +5.289 23 laps
20  Marcus Ericsson  Sauber 1’51.479 +5.656 16 laps
21  Esteban Ocon  Manor 1’52.379 +6.556 33 laps
22  Romain Grosjean  Haas no time 2 laps