Friday at the Marina Bay Street Circuit was business as usual for the Mercedes team as they were quickest on both the short and long runs. Despite this, their advantage was only small with Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo being their nearest challengers. This article will analyse the times in detail, in particular the race runs completed by Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Williams and Force India.
Qualifying Pace
The second practice session provided us with a clearer picture of who is looking strong in terms of one lap speed. Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time of the session thus far in second practice (1:47.490) ahead of Fernando Alonso. Championship leader Nico Rosberg failed to set a competitive time on the super-soft tyres due to a red flag which occurred half-way through FP2 courtesy of Pastor Maldonado. It is apparent, once again Mercedes are the team to beat with Red Bull their nearest challengers. Ferrari tend to run less fuel on Friday’s which makes them look more competitive than they actually are. Nevertheless, it was a strong day for the Scuderia.
On the other hand, it seemed Williams struggled to get to grips with the Marina Bay Street Circuit however they have a tendency to be slower on Friday’s and show their hand on Saturday. The gap between the option (super-soft) and prime (soft) is between two and two and half seconds meaning it is likely everyone will have to use a set of option tyres in the first segment of qualifying. The third and final practice session will provide us with a true picture of the qualifying pecking order.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’47.490 | 25 | |
| 2 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’47.623 | 0.133 | 28 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’47.790 | 0.300 | 28 |
| 4 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’48.031 | 0.541 | 29 |
| 5 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’48.041 | 0.551 | 5 |
| 6 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’48.358 | 0.868 | 33 |
| 7 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’48.435 | 0.945 | 30 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’48.653 | 1.163 | 30 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’48.751 | 1.261 | 31 |
| 10 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’48.770 | 1.280 | 31 |
Race Pace
During the latter half of the second practice session. All of the teams completed their race runs. Majority of the drivers tested the speed and durability of the super-soft tyres. Several drivers including Perez, Hulkenberg, Button and Hamilton did run on the soft tyres however they only completed a handful of laps which was not enough data to analyse.
The race pace data (below) shows that Lewis Hamilton is the clear benchmark with his nearest challenger Daniel Ricciardo who on average is a tenth slower than Hamilton. Hamilton and Ricciardo were the only drivers to consistently dip into the 1:52 mark whilst Rosberg completed a slightly longer run which was inevitably slower. Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen showed strong pace in the second practice session as both drivers were on average quicker than their team-mates. Williams’ race pace was poor and they have a lot of work to do before Sunday’s race. Kimi Raikkonen and Danil Kvyat completed the most laps on the soft tyres – the data suggests the teams will favour the super-soft tyres come race day due to the significant grip and performance advantage which they offer.
| Driver | Tyre | Average Lap Time | Best Lap Time | Stint Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nico Rosberg | Super Soft | 1:53.332 | 1:52.661 | 13 laps |
| Lewis Hamilton | Super Soft | 1:52.825 | 1:52.239 | 9 laps |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Super Soft | 1:52.919 | 1:52.495 | 8 laps |
| Fernando Alonso | Super Soft | 1:53.467 | 1:52.526 | 10 laps |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Soft | 1:55.153 | 1:53.446 | 11 laps |
| Felipe Massa | Super Soft | 1:54.173 | 1:53.389 | 5 laps |
| Valtteri Bottas | Super Soft | 1:54.968 | 1:53.649 | 11 laps |
| Jenson Button | Super Soft | 1:53.727 | 1:53.439 | 7 laps |
| Kevin Magnussen | Super Soft | 1:53.791 | 1:52.393 | 8 laps |
| Sergio Perez | Super Soft | 1:53.542 | 1:52.720 | 8 laps |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Super Soft | 1:54.588 | 1:53.711 | 9 laps |
| Daniil Kvyat | Soft | 1:54.482 | 1:54.287 | 9 laps |
Note: All calculations are my own. Averages have been calculated using the official FIA documentation released after the practice session earlier today. The stint length is the number of laps completed on high fuel rather than a collective total for the session as a whole. Other drivers included on the table such as Felipe Massa did set laps on the soft tyres however I decided to focus my findings on the super-soft tyre runs.
As we saw in Monza, Friday practice times mean nothing as all the teams run different fuel loads and engine maps. FP3 will answer all our questions in terms of qualifying pace however will have to wait until race day to see who has the best car to tackle the streets of Singapore.
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