Russell leads Singapore practice as Verstappen shows pace on mediums

George Russell set the pace in the only practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix, leading Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris before sprint qualifying.

The Mercedes driver finished 0.198 seconds clear of Leclerc after the Ferrari driver moved into second with a late lap.

Norris was third for McLaren, 0.273secs behind Russell, while Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari and Oscar Piastri completed the top five. All five drivers set their fastest times on the soft tyres, making direct comparisons with Max Verstappen difficult.

The Red Bull driver was sixth, 0.732secs off Russell, but set his best time on the medium compound.

Mercedes compare upgrades in Singapore

Verstappen was the quickest of the drivers using mediums and finished 0.519secs ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who was seventh for Mercedes on the same compound. The Dutchman had also shown encouraging pace earlier in the session before teams switched to different tyre programmes.

Red Bull arrived in Singapore after Verstappen took the team’s first victory of the season at Sepang. Mercedes, meanwhile, used the session to compare two versions of its car after struggling with an aerodynamic upgrade introduced in Malaysia.

Russell reverted to the previous specification in Singapore, while Antonelli continued with the newer package as Mercedes looked for a clearer indication of whether the upgrade was delivering the expected improvement.

Russell will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from the back of the grid after exceeding his permitted allocation of power-unit components following his engine failure in Malaysia.

Isack Hadjar was eighth in the second Red Bull, with Pierre Gasly ninth for Alpine and Liam Lawson completing the top 10 for Racing Bulls.

Fernando Alonso ran inside the top 10 earlier in the session before dropping to 14th as several drivers improved late on. Teams now face sprint qualifying with only one practice session of data and an unclear picture of the relative pace at the front.

The Singapore weekend is also being held amid air-quality warnings caused by haze from wildfires in Indonesia, with residents advised to limit outdoor activity.