Red Bull sets early Singapore pace

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Singapore, Marina Bay Street Circuitsg

Max Verstappen was the fastest driver in the first practice session at Singapore, topping his Red Bull Racing team mate Daniel Ricciardo by a few hundredths of a second. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel came closest to the duo, almost half a second down on the pace-setting Dutchman.

Even though Mercedes were in an unusual 4th and 5th place, neither driver used Pirelli’s quickest ultrasoft tyre compound to set their best time. Hence, their true pace remains hidden, and it is expected that even if the silver cars would prove less on form, they would be struggling less than they were in 2015.

Nico Rosberg did crash at the end of the session, completely failing to turn into a 90° left hander and locking up the right front wheel. He hit the armco barrier head on, but other than some front wing and nose cone damage, the car looked ok.

Kimi Raikkonen was 6th fastest, ahead of the Toro Rosso duo, who on their behalf believe this event might be their last chance of points this season, given top end power is of less importance than on most other tracks on the F1 calendar.

Felipe Massa and Esteban Gutierrez completed the top 10, with Fernando Alonso just out of that, having rubbed a wall halfway through the 90-minute session.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
133Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:45.823-25
23Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:45.872+0.049s27
35Sebastian VettelFerrari1:46.287+0.464s22
444Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:46.426+0.603s24
56Nico RosbergMercedes1:46.513+0.690s22
67Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:46.890+1.067s20
755Carlos SainzToro Rosso Ferrari1:46.936+1.113s28
826Daniil KvyatToro Rosso Ferrari1:47.683+1.860s29
919Felipe MassaWilliams Mercedes1:48.044+2.221s27
1021Esteban GutierrezHaas Ferrari1:48.109+2.286s23
1114Fernando AlonsoMcLaren Honda1:48.202+2.379s21
1211Sergio PerezForce India Mercedes1:48.214+2.391s28
1327Nico HulkenbergForce India Mercedes1:48.359+2.536s28
1477Valtteri BottasWilliams Mercedes1:48.453+2.630s26
1512Felipe NasrSauber Ferrari1:49.595+3.772s16
1622Jenson ButtonMcLaren Honda1:49.615+3.792s20
1730Jolyon PalmerRenault1:49.794+3.971s27
1820Kevin MagnussenRenault1:50.263+4.440s29
1994Pascal WehrleinMrt Mercedes1:51.112+5.289s23
209Marcus EricssonSauber Ferrari1:51.479+5.656s16
2131Esteban OconMrt Mercedes1:52.379+6.556s33
228Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari--2