Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his strong form by setting the fastest time in the final practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday.
The reigning world champion recorded a time of 1 minute 30.148 seconds near the end of the session, just 0.017 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who leads the championship.
Verstappen is chasing his third win in a row and is hoping to close the 69-point gap to Piastri in the drivers’ standings.
Mercedes driver George Russell recovered well from a crash on Friday to go third fastest with a time of 1:30.197. His teammate Kimi Antonelli was close behind in fourth with 1:30.237, showing strong pace for Mercedes.
Lando Norris, who won the race from pole position last year, was fifth quickest in the other McLaren. Williams driver Carlos Sainz and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, both of whom had strong performances on Friday, followed in sixth and seventh place.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished the session in eighth, but could face a penalty after being investigated for breaking red flag rules.
The session was briefly stopped 15 minutes in when Liam Lawson crashed his Racing Bulls car into a barrier. He also caused a stoppage on Friday after hitting another barrier with a rear tyre. The New Zealander now faces a tough challenge in qualifying.
Russell’s crash on Friday was the first of two red-flag incidents during second practice. Lawson’s crash on Saturday added more drama to an already eventful weekend in Singapore.
