Slippery Friday in Singapore ended with Russell’s crash
20. 09. 2024
4 min

Slippery Friday in Singapore ended with Russell’s crash

Tereza Hořínková
News.gp journalist and a girl with big dreams

Formula 1 f1singapore f1friday reports

The first day in Singapore is completed. During both free practice sessions, drivers struggled with the slippery track as some of them touched the wall a couple of times. The only driver to crash was George Russell at the of FP2 but without any serious damage to the Mercedes car.

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FP1

The weekend of racing action in Singapore began with FP1, which took place still in daylight, which is not fully reflective of the conditions that drivers and teams will encounter during qualifying and the race as Singapore GP is a night race.

Oscar Piastri encountered difficulties with the rear-left corner of his car, which kept him sidelined in the pits for the first 10 minutes of the session, limiting his running time. According to the team, they have never seen an issue like this as it all of a sudden occurred during a pit stop practice earlier today.

Daniel Ricciardo spent some time in the garage as well due to aero take being stuck in his car.

The challenging and slippery conditions on the dusty track led to several tense moments during the session. One of the more notable incidents occurred when Sergio Perez lost control and went off at Turn 16, momentarily bringing out a yellow flag as he found himself in the run-off area. Fortunately, Perez was able to continue without major issues. 

Fernando Alonso had his moment with the slippery track as well, which resulted into a funny radio message after accidentally pushing the pit stop button, while trying to avoid hitting the wall.

In another part of the circuit, Valtteri Bottas had his own frustrations, reporting over team radio that he had been "blocked" by the Williams of Franco Colapinto, which disrupted his momentum during a flying lap.

Charles Leclerc emerged as the fastest driver of the session, clocking an impressive lap time of 1:31.763. Lando Norris followed closely behind, securing second place, while Ferrari's Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three.

The championship leader Max Verstappen who has never won at the Martina Bay Circuit had to settle down for fourth place, with Yuki Tsunoda, from Red Bull’s sister team, completing the top 5.

FP2

Following the early evening first practice session in Singapore, FP2 occurred under the floodlights, giving drivers the chance to experience conditions that closely resemble those expected during qualifying.

McLaren and Ferrari cars continued their run in setting the pace as in the first practice, signalizing that they will be the teams to beat this weekend.

Franco Colapinto gave Williams a few shocks after touching the wall many times throughout the whole session.

Oscar Piastri had a near miss with some drama when he ran wide at Turn 7 during his soft tire stint and later made contact with the wall at Turn 17. His teammate, Norris, also had a close call, brushing the concrete barrier while exiting Turn 3 and then taking an escape road to avoid traffic.

Mercedes drivers struggled on Friday as Lewis Hamilton wasn’t able to get his car into the top 10 in any of the sessions, finishing in 11th. George Russell ended the second free practice in P7, however, he managed to destroy his front wing after a small crash in Turn 8 just 2 minutes before the end.

The fastest in the second free practice was Lando Norris, only 0.058s in front of Charles Leclerc as they swapped positions from FP1.

Carlos Sainz finished third again with Yuki Tsunoda being even better than in first practice and ending the session in P4. 

Oscar Piastri completed the top 5, while Max Verstappen finished only P15 as Red Bull looks like they continue to struggle.

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