Sainz Tops Leclerc in FP2 at Marina Bay

September 15, 2023Ramon Jones
Formula 1

The Ferraris came to the Singapore Grand Prix with something to prove. For the first time this season Ferrari swept both FP1 and FP2 running the fastest overall between the two sessions. Carlos Sainz led the way for the team. FP2 was a more accurate representation of how qualifying will go because they cars will qualify at around the same time of day. Temperature for qualifying are forecasted to be similar to FP2 as well so the data gathered during the session will definitely influence qualifying strategy.

In uncharacteristic fashion the Red Bulls ran 7th and 8th fastest. We may see them start to dial up the pace in FP3 but if the cars are truly this far behind then Red Bull and Verstappen’s win streak might be in jeopardy this weekend. We anticipate that the cars will be faster in FP3. There did not appear to be any technical or mechanical setbacks for the team on day one in Singapore. Mercedes put both cars in the top 5 flanking a fourth fastest Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). George Russell was the faster of the two Mercedes drivers; leading Lewis Hamilton.

Liam Lawson Wows

Liam Lawson (Alpha Tauri) continues to impress finishing as the lead Alpha Tauri driver on day one. Lawson finished P12 with Yuki Tsunoda finishing P16. We haven’t caught wind of any intra team rivalries but it cant be good for Tsunoda to have a reserve driver with limited race experience in the car out competing you. We will monitor this story as it develops further into qualifying tomorrow.

Full FP2 Results are Below

PositionDriverLapsTimeInterval (s)km/h
1Carlos Sainz/Ferrari261’32.120 197.859
2Charles Leclerc/Ferrari27+0.0180.018197.820
3George Russel/Mercedes25+0.2350.217197.355
4Fernando Alonso/Aston Martin Racing25+0.3580.123197.093
5Lewis Hamilton/Mercedes23+0.4650.107196.865
6Lando Norris/McLaren23+0.5910.126196.598
7Sergio Perez/Red Bull Racing23+0.6920.101196.384
8Max Verstappen/Red Bull Racing23+0.7320.040196.299
9Kevin Magnussen/Haas F1 Team25+0.8970.165195.951
10Valtteri Bottas/Alfa Romeo24+0.9850.088195.766
11Nico Hulkenberg/Haas F1 Team22+1.0190.034195.694
12Liam Lawson/AlphaTauri27+1.1650.146195.388
13Esteban Ocon/Alpine25+1.2410.076195.229
14Lance Stroll/Aston Martin Racing25+1.2700.029195.168
15Oscar Piastri/McLaren23+1.3410.071195.020
16Yuki Tsunoda/AlphaTauri27+1.3570.016194.987
17Zhou Guanyu/Alfa Romeo25+1.4550.098194.782
18Pierre Gasly/Alpine24+1.7040.249194.265
19Logan Sargeant/Williams28+2.2070.503193.229
20Alex Albon/Williams5+3.4381.231190.740