The Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclercont marked their territory on Friday by achieving the best times in the first two practice sessions of the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, ahead of the Red Bulls lagging behind on the Marina Bay urban track. In the Singaporean furnace putting the drivers’ physique to the test, Sainz was ahead of Charles Leclerc in the evening, author of the best time in the first session held earlier, by only 18/1000th. “We must not get carried away because I think our competitors have not yet shown their true rhythm,” Leclerc, however, tempered.
Far behind the strong men of the day, the solid leader in the world championship Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finished 8th in the second session, the only one of the weekend representative of qualifying and the race because it was run at night. His Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez, winner of the race last year, was only 7th on Friday evening. “We tried several different things in FP2 (the second session, editor’s note), some worked, others not,” explained the Dutchman, double reigning champion. He continued: “we never really managed to get the car ready today, I struggled with the balance in particular, so there are a lot of things to review with the team” . We are now waiting to see the qualifications tomorrow in Singapore.