FP2: Sainz leads Leclerc as Ferrari post 1-2 in second practice at Marina Bay

Carlos Sainz topped the timesheets during Friday’s second practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, edging out Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc around the illuminated Marina Bay Street Circuit.

In what was the first representative session of the weekend on F1’s return to the Lion City, with the sun setting and the floodlights taking over, Sainz posted the FP2 benchmark by clocking a 1m 42.587s on the soft tyre compound.

READ MORE: Hamilton leads Verstappen in opening Singapore practice

Leclerc followed his team mate by little more than two-tenths despite missing around half of the 60-minute session while Ferrari carried out changes and checks to his car following an FP1 hour impacted by brake issues.

Max Verstappen’s running was also limited by set-up changes and a late soft-shod run could only put him fourth – around three-tenths off Sainz’s time – between the Mercedes cars.

George Russell was the lead Silver Arrow in third, with Lewis Hamilton fifth, though both experienced compromised soft tyre runs – Russell lamenting an “awful” lap after a lock-up at Turn 13 and Hamilton encountering traffic.

Esteban Ocon finished the session sixth for Alpine, narrowly beating Alfa Romeo rival Valtteri Bottas in P7 and team mate Fernando Alonso in P8.

Sergio Perez was unable to get a clean lap in with the soft rubber in the other Red Bull, winding up ninth, with Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll – bouncing back from his FP1 crash – rounding out the top 10.

READ MORE: Why the Singapore Grand Prix is a beast like no other as F1 prepares to light up Marina Bay once more

Lando Norris was the quickest of the McLarens in P11 – seven places and almost one-and-a-half seconds ahead of outgoing team mate Daniel Ricciardo – followed by Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin and Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

AlphaTauri endured a difficult session, with Pierre Gasly 14th after a fire erupted on his engine air intake, while 17th-placed team mate Yuki Tsunoda ended his session early due to a fuel system issue.

Williams driver Alex Albon continued his impressive return from appendicitis and post-surgery complications with a solid run to 16th, just behind the other Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu and in front of the aforementioned Tsunoda.

Mick Schumacher (Haas) and Nicholas Latifi (Williams) brought up the rear, with the field covered by just under four seconds under the Marina Bay lights.

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