Singapore GP: Piastri tops crash-strewn FP2 as Norris, Leclerc crash in the pits and Russell at T16

Oscar Piastri set the pace in the second practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, beating Isack Hadjar by 0.132 seconds under the lights at the Marina Bay circuit.

There were two red flags as George Russell crashed at Turn 16, breaking the nose of his Mercedes W16, before Liam Lawson hit the wall. Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc had a crash in the pit lane, but that one didn’t bring out the reds.

Three crashes, two red flags and a P1 for Oscar Piastri

On a hot and humid night at the Marina Bay circuit, Alex Albon had a huge thank you to say to his mechanics as they repaired his burnt FW47 with the job completed five minutes before the start of FP1.

The drivers waited a few minutes and then came out en masse with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg leading the queue.

His teammate Gabriel Bortoleto was the first to go the wrong way up a dead-end, while Kimi Antonelli led the way after the first 10 minutes with a 1:32.885.

The Mercedes rookie promptly went up an escape road himself. A sliding Oliver Bearman kicked up a spray of sparks under the lights of the Marina Bay circuit.

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McLaren took over at the top, Lando Norris quickest before Oscar Piastri overhauled him by half a second. The Briton fought back, closing the gap to 0.007s with Lewis Hamilton third.

FP1 pace-setter Fernando Alonso was fourth, the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix showing good pace ahead of Carlos Sainz.

Red flag!

George Russell went screaming nose-first into the Turn 16 wall, destroying his Mercedes’ front wing and puncturing his front left Pirelli. Russell told Mercedes: “That was weird.”

The Briton left debris behind on the track with Race Control throwing the red flag as even though he made it back to the garage, his car’s nose was sitting on the racing line with the barrier also having taken a hit. Russell’s session was over.

Back underway with 31 minutes on the clock, the majority of the field headed out on the soft Pirellis except the Ferraris with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton running the mediums. They jumped to second for Hamilton and seventh for Leclerc before the session saw its second red flag as Liam Lawson hit the wall.

A right-front crash after a mistake at Turn 16 saw him hit the wall at Turn 17.

The pit entry was closed due to the position of Lawson’s stricken Racing Bulls car, but that was cleared as Norris dived in. But some drivers had to continue in the immediate aftermath despite the red flag being shown due to the pit lane being momentarily closed.

The session resumed with 13 minutes to go but there was chaos in the pits as Leclerc hit the McLaren of Norris. Leclerc left his garage at speed, the Ferrari released into the path of the McLaren and hitting him.

Norris’ MCL39 suffered front wing damage as he also hit the pit wall. McLaren changed Norris’ front wing and nose cone and sent him back out. Race Control announced that Leclerc would be investigated for an unsafe release.

Hamilton had a huge twitch and hit the wall, Norris was frustrated over the radio to his race engineer Will Joseph, Bearman was fortunate to avoid a Russell-styled crash and Franco Colapinto also had a hairy moment.

The session ended with Piastri quickest of 1:30.714, putting him +0.132 ahead of Isack Hadjar with Verstappen a further 0.011 down.

Singapore GP FP2 times

1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.714
2 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.132
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.143
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.163
5 Lando Norris McLaren +0.483
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.508
7 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +0.584
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.585
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.752
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.777
11 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.994
12 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.997
13 Alexander Albon Williams +1.346
14 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +1.355
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.605
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.744
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1.931
18 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +2.005
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine +2.425
20 George Russell Mercedes +2.517

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