With videoMax Verstappen knows that he will not have an easy qualification ahead of him later in the day in Singapore. Even after the necessary changes, he was still not happy with the setup of his Red Bull car during the final training. The Dutchman was stuck in P4, just over three tenths behind the once again strong Carlos Sainz.
Conquering a good starting position later today is crucial. After all, overtaking is not easy on the tight Marina Bay Street Circuit. They therefore continued to work at the Red Bull factory long after the bad training day yesterday, in the hope of finding the cause of the problems. These were mainly in the balance at the rear of the car. Verstappen’s car was not ready until late for the start of FP3, but the problems appeared to have certainly not been completely resolved.
Verstappen drove most of the third training session on the medium tire and that went well, although he already complained about the performance of his RB19 during upshifts. The Red Bull team spent the rest of the training trying to find a solution to those problems. They adjusted things in the setup, but Verstappen continued to grumble. At the very end he squeezed out another improvement, which landed him in P4 on the times list. ‘It might have gone a little smootherbut it is still nowhere near where we need to be,” said the World Cup leader, so dominant this year, when asked for feedback.
Verstappen with a moment in turn 1
Heading into qualifying (3 p.m. Dutch time), the Ferrari team can be seen as the favorite. Carlos Sainz already took pole position at the last race in Monza and has continued to perform strongly in every session so far this weekend. The 29-year-old Spaniard clocked 1.32.065 in the streets of Singapore, about 7 hundredths faster than George Russell. McLaren is also ‘in the mix’ towards qualifying with Lando Norris. Sergio Pérez, like his Dutch teammate, complained frequently on the radio and did not get further than P8.
12:30
End of VT3
The third and final training hour is over in Singapore! Max Verstappen is still not quite where he wants to be in qualifying, but he did reduce the gap to Carlos Sainz in P1 somewhat. Four teams are now in good shape at the top of the times list: Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull.
Thank you for following this live blog and we hope to see you later when we qualify around 3 p.m. That will be a nice one!
12:30
Verstappen improves on another attempt, but that is ‘only’ for P4. The difference: still more than 3 tenths.
‘It might have gone a little smootherbut still far from where we need to be,” says Verstappen, when asked for feedback on the upshift issues.
12:25
A lot of grumbling on the radio from Verstappen, who has been busy all the time about problems with upshifting. “Come in, we want to do some testing,” says his engineer, to which Max responds: “I just came in.”
12:22
Leclerc goes to P4 in the repechage. He loses a lot of time in the last sector. All in all, Verstappen is now sixth again.
12:20
But of course we hadn’t had the Ferraris yet! Sainz goes to 1.32.065, while Leclerc has aborted his lap.
12:17
Verstappen is on his way for a flying lap on the softs! In the first sector he immediately loses 3 tenths to Norris.
At the start/finish it is P4 for the world champion! Behind Lando and both Mercedes.
12:13
Improvements! Norris now goes to P1 in 1.32.303, while we see Ocon in P3. Hopefully Verstappen will also come out on the soft tire in the last fifteen minutes.
12:11
Russell shows that it can be a little faster. Fortunately, he is not hindered by traffic in the last sector and sets 1.32.364. Seven tenths.
12:10
At McLaren they threw a pot of green paint at Norris’ car. Flow fish So.
What a battle scene by the way!
12:03
“I went wide,” Verstappen says after a moment in Turn 1. At the end of the lap he immediately dives in.
Our compatriot is more than 4 tenths slower than Sainz, but at the same time he is just ahead of Leclerc in the other Ferrari. Perez? We only find it in P13.
12:00
Hamilton is 2 tenths short of his teammate. We currently have the Mercedes in P1 and P2, but of the top men they are also the only ones who clocked their best time on softs.
11:57
Russell back to P1! A 1.32.883 for the Briton on the soft rubber.
Verstappen is on a slightly longer run, with more fuel on board.
11:56
Lawson triggers a yellow flag in the first sector! The substitute at AlphaTauri (Daniel Ricciardo still has the fracture in his hand, but watches from the garage) loses him after Turn 1. The New Zealander keeps him out of the wall and puts his car back in the right direction. and continues.
11:53
Verstappen comes out for a new run on the – now used – mediums.
Sainz had a moment there in Turn 1. The Spaniard did not color within the lines, but there was space there.
11:51
It can still be faster on the medium band. Sainz achieved a 1.33.195.
11:48
Leclerc crosses the line within 3 thousandths of Verstappen. P2 for the Monegasque.
But there is Russell for a 1.33.440 on the softest tire. Not fair!
11:44
Verstappen is also going a bit faster. The World Cup leader goes around in 1.33.660 on mediums. He still complains about his gears when accelerating.
Encouraging signals for Red Bull so early in training, although yesterday’s problems mainly occurred in the ‘cooler’ conditions in the evening, on the soft tire.
11:42
The track becomes faster and so Sainz takes a big bite out of Max’s top time: 1.33.778 for the Spaniard. Russell goes to P2 (on softs).
11:41
Verstappen misses a corner there. He goes straight through turn 14 at not very high speed.
11:37
Verstappen goes purple-purple-purple and takes six tenths off the fastest time: 1.34.402. Early days.
Pérez: ‘The car is still very restless, especially when turning in.’
Result, standings and programme
View the results of this year’s Grands Prix, the general classification and the program for the rest of the season here.
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