The battle lines are drawn at the Marina Bay Circuit, and it’s Ferrari and McLaren that have seized the upper hand in a dramatic Friday showdown. Charles Leclerc was the fastest in FP1, but Lando Norris responded fiercely in FP2, leaving their teammates Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri playing catch-up. The real story, however, is the absolute meltdown of Red Bull and Mercedes, who are reeling from a torrid start to the Singapore GP weekend.
Max Verstappen’s body language said it all—Red Bull’s once-dominant RB20 was a shadow of its former self, plagued with understeer and crippling tire overheating issues. It’s a shocking decline for the team that once ruled Singapore with an iron grip. Mercedes, too, were floundering, with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell visibly frustrated by their unpredictable W15, which seems to have no rhyme or reason to its performance. Toto Wolff cited tire temperatures as the main culprit, but it’s clear the Silver Arrows have more questions than answers.
Friday’s rains turned the already tricky circuit into a slick, rubber-free nightmare, wiping away any grip that teams managed to build up during the day. As final practice kicked off under dry skies, Aston Martin drivers took to the track first, only for the session to be hilariously interrupted by a lizard taking a leisurely stroll down the racing line—triggering a bizarre red flag.
When action resumed, Verstappen finally emerged from the pits after 18 minutes, setting a strong pace initially but still falling behind Norris on his first run. The Dutchman’s frustration continued to boil over as he battled both traffic and his car’s rear instability at high steering angles. Meanwhile, Norris was on a mission, blasting past Verstappen’s time with a scorching lap that left the rest of the field reeling.
Verstappen’s attempts to fight back were thwarted by persistent understeer and a heart-stopping moment on the kerbs at Turn 7. Meanwhile, Leclerc briefly took the top spot before being relegated by Norris, who delivered a lap nearly half a second quicker than Russell’s best effort on Soft tires.
Red Bull and Mercedes engineers were left scratching their heads as Verstappen and Hamilton continued to complain about the car balance and setup woes. Verstappen, unable to improve on his Soft tire run, found himself marred by scrappy laps and traffic, while Russell skidded into the run-off at Turn 14.
As the clock ticked down, Norris remained the benchmark, with Leclerc voicing his frustrations over the radio: “I just have no grip.” Sainz and Leclerc struggled to find pace on their Soft tire runs, ending the session adrift of the blistering pace set by McLaren’s lead man.
The end of FP3 leaves the big questions hanging: Can Red Bull and Mercedes turn things around before qualifying? Will McLaren and Ferrari maintain their edge, or will Friday night’s data crunching be enough for the struggling giants to fight back? One thing’s for sure: Singapore is proving to be a pressure cooker where only the sharpest will survive.
