Russell fastest from Leclerc in Singapore practice

George Russell of Mercedes set the fastest time in Singapore Grand Prix practice, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who trailed by 0.198 seconds, breaking what had been an all‑British top three. Lando Norris of McLaren was third quickest, 0.273 seconds off Russell’s pace, while Lewis Hamilton—identified in the source as a Ferrari driver—finished fourth, 0.499 seconds behind the leader. The top five, completed by Oscar Piastri of McLaren, all ran on soft‑compound tyres. Max Verstappen of Red Bull was the quickest on medium tyres, placing sixth. The four‑time world champion was 0.732 seconds off the pace and 0.519 seconds faster than Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who was seventh, also on medium tyres. This was the sole practice session of the weekend; sprint qualifying is scheduled for 13:30 BST. The split between tyre compounds made it difficult to draw any conclusions about relative performance. Russell will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid after a penalty for exceeding the permitted number of engine components, following his power‑unit failure while running third in the closing stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Russell and Antonelli are using different car specifications; Russell has reverted to an earlier spec, whereas Antonelli is running the new aerodynamic package introduced in Malaysia. Mercedes hopes the session will give a clearer indication of whether the upgrade package is delivering the expected step forward after struggling for pace in Malaysia. Verstappen claimed his and Red Bull’s first victory of the year at Sepang and showed strong pace at times during the race before tyre strategies diverged. His teammate Isack Hadjar, also on medium tyres, was eighth fastest, with Pierre Gasly of Alpine and Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls rounding out the top ten. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin briefly appeared in the top ten but fell back in the closing stages to finish 14th. The event is taking place amid air‑quality warnings in Singapore caused by haze from Indonesian wildfires, largely the result of illegal slash‑and‑burn land‑clearing methods used by farmers and companies. The haze has driven pollution levels high, prompting authorities to advise citizens to limit outdoor activities. Read the full story at BBC News →