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F1 Singapore GP: Norris noses ahead of Leclerc in FP2 by 0.058s

Lando Norris was fastest in the second Formula 1 practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix, maintaining a tight battle with Charles Leclerc at the top of the timing boards.

Norris led the way with a 1m30.727s as the two were separated by just 0.058 seconds, and with over half-a-second's gap over the rest of the field at the end of the session.

Amid the early runs on medium and hard tyres, as the drivers sought to get a picture of the track evolution in representative night-time conditions, the times swiftly ran through the gamut of laps set in the 1m32s - Charles Leclerc bringing the field below the 1m33s bracket on the medium tyre.

He and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz continued to set the pace, trading fastest times, before Alex Albon beat them both - also on the medium - with a 1m32.238s effort.

Leclerc concluded the medium efforts at full speed with a 1m31.665s lap, which Albon found time on during his first effort on softs - a 1m31.650s.

Although Albon set the early pace, the slenderness of his margin over the Ferraris on mediums suggested there was more in it; this was duly proved correct when George Russell overcame his engine's limp mode setting and logged a 1m31.488s on his first effort on the softs.

Oscar Piastri swiftly beat this by 0.014s, noting that he perhaps needed more downforce in the car, but Norris pumped in the first time under the 1m31s mark of the weekend on his opening effort on the red-walled tyre, to set a convincing benchmark.

(Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images)

Leclerc got close, shadowing Norris by 0.058s with a slender margin between them, as Sainz was a further six-tenths behind in third.

Attention then shifted to the longer runs, starting with the soft tyres, as the drivers and engineers sought to use the only hour of representative practice running preparing for Sunday's race.

This yielded no further shuffling in times, ending with the same drivers occupying the top three positions as in FP1. Norris nonetheless had a couple of moments throughout the rest of practice, as he reported he "hit the wall pretty hard" amid the longer runs and later locked up at Turn 7.

Russell then went into the wall at Turn 8 in the final two minutes of the session, wedging his front wing under the barrier. The Mercedes driver managed to back his car out to avoid bringing out a red flag, with minimal apparent damage beyond his nosecone.

Yuki Tsunoda made his way into the top four, just over a tenth behind Sainz as the RBs continued to appear within the upper echelons of the pack.

And, like FP1, Piastri sat between the two RBs in the timing screen; Daniel Ricciardo was just 0.004s slower than his fellow Australian in the final order.

Russell ended up seventh fastest, ahead of Sergio Perez, while Albon and Nico Hulkenberg completed the overall top 10.

Lewis Hamilton ended the session 11th fastest, remarking that his comparative lack of pace - and visual unease with his Mercedes - was "unbelievable" having fallen over two-tenths behind his team-mate. Championship leader Max Verstappen was only 15th in the final FP2 standings, 1.3s off the pace.

F1 Singapore GP - FP2 results

   
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4
   
   
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2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 27

1'30.727

  196.016
2 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 28

+0.058

1'30.785

0.058 195.891
3 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari 27

+0.629

1'31.356

0.571 194.667
4 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 RB Red Bull 28

+0.741

1'31.468

0.112 194.428
5 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 27

+0.747

1'31.474

0.006 194.415
6 Australia D. Ricciardo RB 3 RB Red Bull 26

+0.751

1'31.478

0.004 194.407
7 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 25

+0.761

1'31.488

0.010 194.386
8 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull 25

+0.871

1'31.598

0.110 194.152
9 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 26

+0.923

1'31.650

0.052 194.042
10 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari 26

+0.940

1'31.667

0.017 194.006
11 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes 24

+0.982

1'31.709

0.042 193.917
12 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 25

+1.023

1'31.750

0.041 193.831
13 Denmark K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 Haas Ferrari 26

+1.066

1'31.793

0.043 193.740
14 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 25

+1.230

1'31.957

0.164 193.394
15 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 24

+1.294

1'32.021

0.064 193.260
16 Argentina F. Colapinto Williams 43 Williams Mercedes 26

+1.330

1'32.057

0.036 193.184
17 France E. Ocon Alpine 31 Alpine Renault 27

+1.392

1'32.119

0.062 193.054
18 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault 27

+1.495

1'32.222

0.103 192.839
19 China Z. Guanyu Sauber 24 Sauber Ferrari 26

+1.632

1'32.359

0.137 192.552
20 Finland V. Bottas Sauber 77 Sauber Ferrari 26

+2.059

1'32.786

0.427 191.666
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