Sainz completes practice clean sweep for Ferrari in Singapore GP FP3
16th September 2023Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz topped the timing boards to give the Scuderia a clean sweep across practice as Red Bull’s woes continued on with Max Verstappen continuing to complain about upshifts.
Ahead of the third – and final – practice session of this year’s edition of the Singapore GP, there was a downpour which washed away all the rubber that the drivers managed to put down yesterday.
Unlike FP1 and FP2, on Friday, only a handful of drivers peeled out of their respective garages as soon as the pit exit light went green.
Of those early runners, it was yet another mix of tyre compounds as some drivers opted for the red-walled soft tyres or the yellow-ringed mediums. Piastri was an outlier on the hards for his first runs – the only driver to go for that compound.
Sainz topped the session and continued his form of fastest laps since free practice two after his teammate Charles Leclerc topped the first session. Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top three, in second and third place.
Verstappen completed the final practice session three-tenths behind Sainz in fourth place. The Dutch reigning world champion complained about problems with the upshifts and downshifts of his dominant RB19 although the team attempted to find a fix in the middle of the session.
Leclerc and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton completed the top six in fifth and sixth, 0.4s off Sainz’s pace. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) rounded out the top 10 in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.
Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) were the last drivers to remain within a second of the leading Ferrari’s time in 11th, 12th and 13th. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top 15 in 14th and 15th.
Daniel Ricciardo’s substitute driver at Alpha Tauri, Liam Lawson, continued to get miles under his belt in Singapore but the Kiwi could only manage the 16th fastest time, at best. This performance was hindered by a spin at the opening corners, with 35 minutes left on the clock. Fortunately, Lawson was able to continue on without issue.
Alexander Albon (Williams), the Alfa Romeo pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Gunayu and Williams’ Logan Sargeant completed the remaining drivers in 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th – 1.6s off Sainz’s pace.
That’s all for the article: Sainz completes practice clean sweep for Ferrari in Singapore GP FP3!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Ferrari clean sweep Friday with Sainz quickest in FP2
- 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
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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.
