Tag: Singapore GP

Sainz and Russell talk up win hopes with different approaches

Carlos Sainz and George Russell both believe they are in a good position to win the Singapore Grand Prix, but for different reasons after qualifying on the front row. With Red Bull struggling all weekend, Sainz took advantage to secure his second …

Carlos Sainz and George Russell both believe they are in a good position to win the Singapore Grand Prix, but for different reasons after qualifying on the front row.

With Red Bull struggling all weekend, Sainz took advantage to secure his second consecutive pole position and edge out Russell by under 0.1s. Two weeks ago in Monza, Sainz was unable to hold the faster Red Bulls at bay in the race but he says that even though Ferrari doesn’t have the strongest car in terms of race pace, he has a better chance of defending his position in Singapore.

“I’m more confident, mainly because of the track layout,” Sainz said. “I think it’s a bit easier to hold on to our track position. That obviously gives me more confidence than Monza, (but) in terms of pace, I really have no idea how we’re going to be.

“Looking at long-run data from Friday, the Merc, the Aston and the Red Bull did look a bit quicker than us in tire degradation and race pace, so it could be that tomorrow we have to run, yet again, a bit of a defensive race. I don’t discount that even around this track we could hold on to a P1 because it’s a lot more difficult to pass than other tracks this season, but our race pace still looks like our weakest point.”

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However, Russell points to the fact that Mercedes has retained two sets of medium tires for the race as an advantage as it opens up more strategic options on a weekend where the one-stop looks quickest but safety cars often play a role.

“To be honest, I think we were (expecting a strong performance),” Russell said. “We know that on the high-downforce circuits, we tend to go better. Ferrari always fast on the street circuits, C5 tire. So we knew there’d be quick. Red Bull are obviously a big surprise — not too sure what’s gone on there. Their long-run pace didn’t seem stellar, either. So this is a great opportunity, this weekend, to get a victory.

“We’ve got a different tire strategy to every other car on the grid out there. We’ve got two mediums. So, we’re the only team who’ve got the chance to do a one-stop or two stops, so that really gives us a great chance for tomorrow.”

Actually, Oscar Piastri and both Williams drivers have two sets of mediums as well, but Russell’s is the only car in the top 10 with such an option and he says that will allow him to attack.

“I’ll definitely be going for it. I think that will make our life easier,” Russell said. “I think we’ve got the pace over Ferrari in the race but, as I said, we’ve got a strategic advantage over them. So, I’m pretty relaxed, even if we are P2 after Turn 1 — or even P3, because we’re the only team who can do a two-stop race. Tire deg looks bad and I hope we’re going to put them in a challenging position to fend this off. So, I’m feeling good — I’m feeling excited.”

Stroll crash result of extra risk after being hampered by cold tires

Lance Stroll says his huge crash in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix was a result of him taking extra risk at the end of a lap compromised by cold tires. The Aston Martin driver was on his final lap of Q1 when he had a snap of oversteer on …

Lance Stroll says his huge crash in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix was a result of him taking extra risk at the end of a lap compromised by cold tires.

The Aston Martin driver was on his final lap of Q1 when he had a snap of oversteer on the exit of the final corner, overcorrecting and hitting the barrier heavily at around 150mph. The car was severely damaged in the incident, with the front left corner ripping off and rolling across the track in front of Lando Norris, and Stroll says he was aware he was set to be eliminated so took more risk trying to find the required lap time.

“I’m OK,” Stroll said. “I’m frustrated as we have a big job — in the garage and on the racetrack — ahead of us. I was struggling for grip throughout the qualifying session. We had a bad out-lap with traffic ahead of my final push and we got stopped for the weigh bridge.

“I started a couple of seconds behind Pierre (Gasly), so it didn’t play out the way we’d planned. When I saw my lap wasn’t improving, I pushed really hard in the last corner to try and make up that extra time, and that’s when it went wrong. Let’s see what we can salvage tomorrow in the race.”

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With Stroll receiving the all-clear from the FIA medical center, team principal Mike Krack says the fact he wasn’t injured in such a heavy impact shows the safety levels that F1 has achieved.

“The only thing that matters today is that Lance is OK after the accident in qualifying,” Krack said. “To see him step out of the car unaided is a testament to the FIA’s constant work to improve safety. After some precautionary checks in the medical center, he was cleared and released.”

Verstappen rules out win, admits Red Bull at a loss with car

Max Verstappen says Red Bull doesn’t understand its struggles in the Singapore Grand Prix and has no chance to win from outside the top 10 with his lack of performance. Both Red Bull drivers dropped out in Q2 – with Verstappen 11th and Sergio Perez …

Max Verstappen says Red Bull doesn’t understand its struggles in the Singapore Grand Prix and has no chance to win from outside the top 10 with his lack of performance.

Both Red Bull drivers dropped out in Q2 — with Verstappen 11th and Sergio Perez 13th — for the first time in five years, having been complaining about the car’s handling throughout the weekend. Although currently on a run of 10 straight victories and with Red Bull unbeaten this season, Verstappen says he has no chance of extending that streak.

“Yeah, you can forget about that,” Verstappen said. “You can’t pass. On other tracks, you can start last — probably at Spa, you can start last and win the race. But not here. Here you need to be two or three seconds faster to have a chance to pass. That’s just street circuits stuff.

“I want to win, but when it’s not possible, you need to accept that.”

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The championship leader admits Red Bull has not got on top of its car in Singapore at any stage, with set-up changes ahead of qualifying not helping the situation.

“I think actually this morning — well FP3 — was better. We made some good progress. It was of course still not where we wanted to be, but it was looking like something. But then we made a few more changes which we thought the setup would allow, the car would allow. But then we got into qualifying…

“The first big problem I had was that I couldn’t brake late and hard, because I would bottom out and it would unload the front tires. On a street circuit, that is something that is very crucial, to be confident on the brakes and attack the corners. So I couldn’t do that, and besides, also just the low-speed corners — where I think we have been struggling the whole weekend — I just had no rear support, so I kept on having mini-slides, or in my final lap, a big one at Turn 3. When it’s like that, there is no lap time.

“Clearly we just don’t understand that issue. Otherwise you don’t make these kind of changes and it’s worse. We are clearly not understanding the car this weekend around this track.

“In general, normally our car is a bit better on deg, maybe to some people around us, but I don’t think that matters a lot in Singapore where it’s very hard to pass. You need to be one and a half, two, three seconds faster, which we are not. Clearly also now with the car performance imbalance we have. It will be a very tough, long afternoon. I still need to speak to the stewards, so I might not even be P11 anyway. At this stage, it doesn’t matter.”

Verstappen is under investigation for three incidents, admitting he simply was trying to keep a gap when leaving the pit lane and then being involved in a chaotic final corner moment with multiple other cars. But it was his impeding of Yuki Tsunoda that he admits was an error that is likely to lead to a penalty.

“Yeah, that was not good,” he conceded. “I didn’t see him, because I was on the radio talking about what was the problem, and then I didn’t get a call-up until he was basically behind me. It basically sums up my qualifying. It was super hectic and messy.”

Sainz bests Russell for Singapore GP pole after Q2 meltdown for Verstappen

Carlos Sainz is on pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix after both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were eliminated in the bottom 10 on a disastrous day for Red Bull Racing. The conclusion of the shocking qualifying session was delayed by more …

Carlos Sainz is on pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix after both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were eliminated in the bottom 10 on a disastrous day for Red Bull Racing.

The conclusion of the shocking qualifying session was delayed by more than half an hour to repair barriers following a high-speed Lance Stroll crash in Q1.

Championship leader Max Verstappen didn’t have the pace to progress to the pole shootout after a scrappy final lap in Q2 left him 11th on the grid and just 0.007s short of the cut-off time. Sergio Perez will start 13th after spinning out over the Turn 2 curb on his final lap.

Verstappen’s lap featured no major errors bar a minor moment of understeer through Turn 3, underlining the RB19’s weekend-long weakness in the first sector.

“Shocking,” Verstappen radioed in frustration. “Absolutely shocking experience.”

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Ironically it was AlphaTauri rookie Liam Lawson who dropped Verstappen out of Q3 with a superb performance that made the New Zealander the only Red Bull-backed driver in the top 10 on the grid.

It had been a scruffy performance for Verstappen, who also faces three post-session investigations for impeding that could see him drop further down the order.

The first incident involved him stopping at the exit of the pit lane in Q1, preventing other cars from joining the circuit. Team radio appeared to suggest he may have had a problem but was ambiguous.

The second saw Verstappen on the racing line among a group of slow-moving cars on their out-laps in Q1 as a Williams driver sped through Turn 18 on a hot lap, requiring him to take evasive action.

The third involved Verstappen driving slowly on the racing line as Yuki Tsunoda closed on him, which forced the Japanese driver to abandon his lap.

With Verstappen and Perez out of contention — between them having claimed all but three of 14 grand prix poles this season — the door was open to Ferrari to capitalize on its surprisingly competitive pace in Singapore. But Sainz and Charles Leclerc were joined by Mercedes’s George Russell, with the trio on good form well ahead of the rest.

This threesome were closely matched through all three splits, but it was Sainz who managed to keep his tires alive for the duration of the lap, with purple times in the first and last sectors underlining his superiority and delivering him a second consecutive pole by a super-fine 0.072s.

“A bit like in Monza — really hitting the ground running from FP1 and feeling very confident through all of the sessions and putting it all together for Q3,” Sainz said of the performance through brought him top spot. “We have a very good car in certain track and certain conditions, like one lap, and these sorts of short apexes, quick changes of direction, our car seems to be very good.”

With the normally dominant Red Bull Racing cars so far back, Sainz said he was hoping to make Ferrari the first other team to win a race in 2023.

“That would feel amazing, and that’s the target,” he said. “I’ll give it everything, like I gave in Monza, and hopefully tomorrow it’s enough.”

Russell split the Ferrari drivers with second on the grid, the Briton was optimistic that he could usurp both for victory.

“It was definitely a challenging session. I’m really, really, happy with this weekend as a whole,” he said.

“To get to the Q3 and be on the front row with a strategic advantage tomorrow is an exciting place to be,” he added, referring to an extra set of fresh medium tires that he saved during practice for a potential race-day advantage.

Leclerc was demoted to third by just 0.007s, but the Monegasque was reserved about Ferrari’s chances in the race.

“We’ve had a very good performance,” he said. “Honestly, we did not expect to be so competitive on a track like this. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Lando Norris was fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton and the surprise appearance of Kevin Magnussen, who capitalized on the unpredictable session for just his third Q3 berth of the season.

Fernando Alonso qualified seventh and 0.631s off the pace, pipping Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and the on-form Lawson in 10th.

Verstappen qualified 11th ahead of Pierre Gasly, Perez, Alex Albon and Tsunoda in Q2.

The pause between Q1 and Q2 was extended to more than half an hour to clean up after a monster Lance Stroll crash that required extensive barrier repairs a the last turn.

Stroll was on his final lap of Q1 when he carried too much speed through the 145mph left-handed Turn 18 and rode the curb on exit, which shot him out of control into the outside wall on the outside of Turn 19. The Canadian’s car made headfirst contact with the barrier, ripping off his left-front wheel and collapsing his rear wing.

The energy of the impact propelled the car back into the middle of the road, where it came to rest just as Norris sped around the final corner on his last qualifying lap. The Briton was fortunate not to strike the errant wheel as it crossed the track towards the pit wall.

Stroll was given the all-clear by FIA doctors after extricating himself from the car and walking away from the scene of the crash.

The session was stopped with all 18 minutes having already expired, costing several drivers their chance to progress into the top 15 after some frantic final moments of Q1 in which most drivers were massively improving their times.

Valtteri Bottas will start 16th ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who was on course to progress to Q2 before Stroll’s crash.

Logan Sargeant qualified 18th ahead of Zhou Guanyu and the crashed Stroll.

Sainz keeps Ferrari on top in final Singapore practice

Carlos Sainz rocketed to top spot in final practice at the Singapore Grand Prix at the end of another difficult session for Red Bull. Sainz’s session-topping lap of 1m 32.065s was enough to pip Mercedes’s George Russell by just 0.069s. Lando Norris …

Carlos Sainz rocketed to top spot in final practice at the Singapore Grand Prix at the end of another difficult session for Red Bull.

Sainz’s session-topping lap of 1m 32.065s was enough to pip Mercedes’s George Russell by just 0.069s. Lando Norris made McLaren the third different team represented inside the top three with a lap 0.169s further back.

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Max Verstappen improved in the final minute of the session to take fourth place, but the reigning champion was 0.313s slower than Sainz and looking no more likely to take pole than he was one night earlier.

The team had struggled badly with balance on Friday, but changes made overnight appeared to do little to rectify the worst of the RB19’s confidence-sapping issues.

Verstappen was caught out going deep on the brakes at Turn 14 during his opening stint on mediums and another time ran wide at the first turn, but his biggest gripe was with the poor shifting behavior of his gearbox.

“I’m sorry, I cannot drive with these upshifts,” he said. “Unacceptable.”

The team recalled him to his garage for tweaks, and though the Dutchman confirmed his shifts were “maybe a little smoother”, they were still “miles off” and giving him too much wheelspin to be competitive. He added too that the problem as also affecting his downshifts.

He nonetheless fares better than teammate Sergio Perez, whose best lap was good enough for only eighth and 0.719s off the pace.

“The rear is still on the edge,” he said early in the run. “It feels a bit too pointy.”

He later complained that the front end was too light, leaving him sliding through the corners, despite set-up changes made between runs.

The team’s lack of one-lap pace raises the prospect of just the fourth grand prix pole position not claimed by a Red Bull Racing driver in 2023.

Between the Red Bull Racing teammates slotted Charles Leclerc in fifth, who was only 0.003s slower than Verstappen after abandoning his final flying lap following a snap of oversteer through Turn 7 despite having set a purple first sector.

Lewis Hamilton was sixth quickest ahead of Oscar Piastri, who improved substantially overnight on his first weekend in Singapore.

Haas teammates Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were ninth and 11th, sandwiching Yuki Tsunoda into 10th.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon headed Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, with teammate Pierre Gasly finishing the hour 15th.

Rookie Liam Lawson spun his car over the Turn 2 curbs, spoiling a set of medium tires but managing to keep his car out of the barrier to continue the session on his way to 16th.

Alex Albon was equipped with a new energy recovery system to address the problem identified with his power unit on Friday that forced him to miss almost all of FP2.

The Williams driver finished 17th ahead of Alfa Romeo teammates Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, while American rookie Logan Sargeant was slowest at the bottom of the order.

Sainz believes five-way fight for pole shaping up in Singapore

Carlos Sainz believes there could be as many as five teams in the fight for pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix after topping the times in Friday practice. Max Verstappen described Red Bull’s form as “way worse” than expected as he finished …

Carlos Sainz believes there could be as many as five teams in the fight for pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix after topping the times in Friday practice.

Max Verstappen described Red Bull’s form as “way worse” than expected as he finished eighth fastest in FP2, one position behind teammate Sergio Perez. Sainz headed a Ferrari one-two in the second session after Charles Leclerc led the Spaniard in FP1, but Sainz — who was on pole in Monza last time out — feels Red Bull will be back in the frame over one lap on Saturday alongside multiple teams.

“No, I don’t believe (Red Bull is in trouble),” Sainz said. “When you look at their long-run pace, already they look the strongest car, so I think once they sort out the one-lap pace they’ll be there fighting for pole. Hopefully we can be in that fight but it also looks like Aston, McLaren, Mercedes should also be in that fight. So I think we are on for an exciting day tomorrow and hopefully we can get the best out of it.”

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While Sainz was surprised that Ferrari swept all of Friday, he says it was in part due to the team getting its setup right from early on in the weekend.

“I think you always need to arrive in Singapore very open-minded,” he said. “We’ve seen in the past very weird performance swings at this track and so far it looks like it’s suiting our car well — it’s going well with the way that we hit the ground running in FP1 and we could just fine-tune the setup a bit for FP2 and be a bit quicker. So it looks good but I do believe the track is going to change a lot for tomorrow — it’s going to ramp up the grip a lot and it’s all about who finds the perfect setup for tomorrow.”

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McLaren had a significant update on Lando Norris’ car on Friday and Sainz says the pecking order might also have been clouded by the development work some teams were doing during practice.

“It definitely looks like there are people out here who have brought a lot of upgrades, so we might see that tomorrow — that they fine-tune them and they understand them better and they find a lot of performance. For us we haven’t really brought anything; the front wing is just a small tweak to what we had, and we’re focusing on understanding our car around here.

“We tested a couple of things on setup that I wanted to try around this type of track and it looks like it worked and it’s going in the right direction, so let’s see if we can put in another good lap tomorrow and be on the front row.”

Red Bull ‘way worse’ than expected in Singapore – Verstappen

Max Verstappen says Red Bull’s pace was “way worse than we expected” after finishing eighth fastest in Friday’s second practice at the Singapore Grand Prix. The championship leader – on a record-setting run of 10 consecutive race victories – had …

Max Verstappen says Red Bull’s pace was “way worse than we expected” after finishing eighth fastest in Friday’s second practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The championship leader — on a record-setting run of 10 consecutive race victories — had suggested Red Bull could struggle more in Singapore than it has at recent venues, but it was still a surprise to see him nearly three quarters of a second off Carlos Sainz’s leading time in FP2. Verstappen was one place behind teammate Sergio Perez, and says there are questions that the team needs to answer overnight.

“A little bit worse than expected today,” Verstappen said. “Just struggling a lot with the balance of the car. We tried quite a few things in FP2 — some worked, some didn’t — never really got the car together, so there’s quite a few things to figure out for tonight, basically.

“Yeah it’s just a few things that we don’t understand, so that’s what we have to look into. I will try to of course improve but it’s quite a big gap … Ferrari is very fast. I just think we are way worse than we expected.”

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Perez agreed with his teammate’s assessment, saying the Red Bull’s handling was challenging under braking during FP2.

“I think there are some interesting bits going on that we need to figure out overnight, hopefully,” Perez said. “We seem to be struggling quite a bit with the rear end of the car, especially in FP2. So plenty of things to look at and hopefully we can come up with he best possible setup, because we know that qualifying is very important.”

“We did expect the Ferrari to be very strong around here; we are just too far away. Hopefully tomorrow we are able to close the gap a bit more, but I do expect quite a challenge.”

With multiple occasions where drivers were complaining about traffic issues, Perez says he doesn’t expect a repeat once qualifying progresses.

“I think come Q3 it should all be very straightforward, but I don’t think we are relying anything on that. I think the main thing is to make sure that we are able to improve the balance that at the moment we are far off.”

Ferrari ahead, Red Bulls struggle in second Singapore GP practice

Ferrari completed a Friday clean sweep, with Carlos Sainz besting Charles Leclerc to top spot in second practice for the Singapore Grand Prix. Championship leader Max Verstappen struggled, with he and Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez …

Ferrari completed a Friday clean sweep, with Carlos Sainz besting Charles Leclerc to top spot in second practice for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Championship leader Max Verstappen struggled, with he and Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez languishing in eighth and seventh and more than half a second off the pace.

Ferrari expected a difficult weekend at the slow-speed Marina Bay track, but the scarlet cars were uncatchable on the soft tire during the first night session of the weekend. FP2 is the most important practice session of the weekend, being the only one run under lights and at roughly the same time as qualifying and the race.

Sainz was 0.018s ahead of Leclerc, but George Russell, the next-best driver in the order, was 0.235s off the pace. Ferrari’s advantage over Mercedes was at its largest in the first and third sectors, but the margin shrank to less than 0.1s in the middle split.

Russell headed Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, the trio each split by around 0.1s — Hamilton lost his best lap to a moment of understeer over the Turn 7 curb — while Lando Norris in his heavily revised McLaren was half a second off the pace.

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Perez, winner last year in Singapore, led Red Bull’s difficult afternoon. The Mexican was 0.692s off the pace, although that was enough to beat Verstappen by 0.04s.

Both drivers complained of oversteer under the lights. Verstappen saved a slide through Turn 13 that put him perilously close to ending the first stint of the evening embedded in the barrier. Perez, having been unable to get within striking distance of top spot, complained that the car was too unstable on the brakes.

“It’s just not coming,” he said. “Every braking zone I feel like I’m going to crash. The rear is stepping out massively.”

Both drivers looked more competitive during their long-run simulations, but Red Bull Racing’s pre-weekend predictions for a challenging time around one of the sport’s most extreme circuits appear accurate.

Kevin Magnussen was a surprise inclusion into the top half of the order for Haas in ninth, with Valtteri Bottas completing the top 10 as the last driver within a second of leader Sainz.

Nico Hulkenberg was 11th ahead of an impressive Liam Lawson, who led the way for AlphaTauri at 1.165s adrift, the Kiwi rookie making the most of his upgraded car in his third substitute round for the injured Daniel Ricciardo.

Esteban Ocon headed Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly from 13th, while Yuki Tsunoda was 16th in the second AlphaTauri and 0.192s down on stand-in teammate Lawson.

Zhou Guanyu was 17th ahead of Pierre Gasly, while Williams propped up the order with Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon in 19th and 20th respectively.

Sargeant, who has never raced in Singapore before, was 2.2s off the pace and more than 0.5s off the back of the field, while Albon set just five unrepresentative laps before being boxed with a suspected power unit issue around 20 minutes into the session.

Technical updates: 2023 Singapore Grand Prix

McLaren, AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo all have significant upgrades as most teams bring new parts for the start of Formula 1’s flyway races in Singapore. As explained by Lando Norris on Thursday, McLaren has brought a raft of upgrades that are the …

McLaren, AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo all have significant upgrades as most teams bring new parts for the start of Formula 1’s flyway races in Singapore.

As explained by Lando Norris on Thursday, McLaren has brought a raft of upgrades that are the biggest set of developments since it made a major step forward in Austria earlier this year. The new parts target the car’s performance in low-speed corners, and relate to the front wing endplates, sidepods and engine cover, a fully revised floor, Halo, rear brake ducts, rear suspension, rear wing endplates and beam wing.

Only Norris will run all the new parts in Singapore, with Oscar Piastri having to wait until Suzuka to get the package on his car.

In total, McLaren has nine areas it has updated, one more than AlphaTauri where there is a tweak to the central floor section, floor edge, diffuser, sidepod inlets, engine cover, rear suspension, rear brake drums and rear view mirrors.

Alfa Romeo has a new floor as well as front wing, diffuser and rear brake ducts, while Alpine also has multiple updates with the sidepod inlet, cooling louvres and beam wing all revised for this weekend.

At Red Bull there is a change to the floor edge and rear wing endplates, while Ferrari has reprofiled its front wing, and Mercedes has updated front brake ducts for cooling purposes.

Aston Martin lists a change to the lower deflector on the rear corner of the car as its only development, with Williams introducing a larger gurney flap for its front wing.

Only Haas has no updates submitted in Singapore, as it works towards a major change of concept to be introduced in Austin in three races’ time.

Leclerc leads, lizards star in first Singapore GP practice

Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two ahead of title leader Max Verstappen in first practice at the Singapore Grand Prix. Leclerc assumed top spot at the end of the soft-tire runs in the second half of the afternoon session with fastest times in all …

Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two ahead of title leader Max Verstappen in first practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Leclerc assumed top spot at the end of the soft-tire runs in the second half of the afternoon session with fastest times in all three sectors. Sainz was late to set his fastest time on a used set of softs, the Spaniard getting to within 0.078s of his teammate.

Verstappen had something of a rough session, complaining of rough downshifts and excess oversteer. The Dutchman shipped most of his 0.126s deficit to Leclerc in the first sector but became progressively quicker as his lap continued and his tires came up to temperature.

Lando Norris was fourth fastest in his heavily upgraded and blacked-out McLaren, lapping within 0.172s of the leader, while Lewis Hamilton ended the session fifth for Mercedes just 0.018s further back.

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The otherwise straightforward session was interrupted four times by the sighting of a monitor lizard on the track between Turns 8 and 9.

The lizard appeared to have crept beneath the barriers and onto the circuit several times — though some drivers speculated that it might have been several different lizards — forcing three four flags through that part of the track in the final half-hour of the session.

“Maybe Godzilla had a kid,” Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s engineer, quipped to his driver, recalling another on-track sighting in 2016 of a much larger monitor.

A fourth appearance ended badly for the monitor, however, which appeared to be struck by a driver as it moved towards the outside of the track shortly before the end of the session.

George Russell was sixth in the order and 0.345s off the pace, pipping Sergio Perez to the place by 0.03s.

Fernando Alonso led for Aston Martin in eighth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, whose AlphaTauri was sporting its biggest upgrade of the season in hopes of building on the team’s paltry three points this weekend.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon completed the top 10, with Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon half a second further back, the Thai driver running Williams’s Gulf-inspired blue and orange paint scheme.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas didn’t use the soft tires on his way to 14th and 1.4s off the leading pace. He finished ahead of Kevin Magnussen, Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg,

Zhou Guanyu also eschewed the softs to finish 18th ahead of Oscar Piastri, whose McLaren wasn’t equipped with all the upgrades enjoyed by teammate Norris, and Logan Sargeant at the back of the back.