Ferrari clean sweep Friday with Sainz quickest in FP2

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed a clean sweep for the Italian outfit as the two Red Bulls had a troubled time in the second practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix. 

The sun set down in the west and shrouded the city-state of Singapore in darkness, but the Marina Bay Street Circuit was lit up in clear light like a Christmas Tree in the festive months. 

Naturally, compared to the first free practice session, the second hour of free practice would be more representative of the more competitive sessions later on in the week; qualifying and the race. 

Similarly to the first hour of practice, the field went through a mix of tyre compounds with most of the drivers on the medium compounds while a handful went on the white-walled hard tyres. 

Unlike FP1, the session was not hindered by lizards and the session was able to continue without issue. 

After qualifying runs, Sainz topped the timing boards to give Ferrari a clean sweep on Friday as Leclerc finished second, nearly two-hundredths behind, and Mercedes’ George Russell rounded out the top three two-tenths off the pace.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five, in fourth and fifth respectively. McLaren’s Lando Norris, in sixth, separated Hamilton from the two Red Bulls.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez edged out his teammate, Max Verstappen, as the duo finished seventh and eighth respectively by the time the chequered flag fell. The drivers complained about rear instability and issues with the car under heavy braking which impacted their performance in FP2. 

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10 in ninth and 10th. 

Magnussen’s teammate, Nico Hulkenberg led the bottom 10 in 11th, just over a second slower than Sainz after FP2. The German driver was quickly followed by Liam Lawson (Alpha Tauri), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) who sat in 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th respectively. 

Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda topped the bottom five in 16th alongside Zhou Gunayu (Alfa Romeo) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) in 17th and 18th, as the last drivers to remain within two seconds of Sainz’s best time. 

Williams’ Logan Sargeant was the only running driver to complete FP2 over two seconds off the pace of Sainz, 2.207s behind the Spaniard.

Sargeant’s teammate, Alexander Albon completed the order down in 20th. The Thai driver only managed to get a handful of laps completed before his FW45 suffered mechanical problems and was forced to pit for inspection.

That’s all for the article: Ferrari clean sweep Friday with Sainz quickest in FP2!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Leclerc leads in Singapore as Lizards litter FP1
• FIA issue ‘certificates of compliance’ to all 10 teams
• Carlos Sainz victim of robbery outside hotel after Italian GP podium
• Hamilton apologises to Piastri for Italian GP turn four incident
• Verstappen breaks F1 record with 10th consecutive win
• F1 ITALIAN GP LIVE: Verstappen on cusp of 10th win in a row with Ferrari on pole

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.