Red Bull toiling in second F1 practice hints at two-horse Singapore GP

Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc appear to be the class of the Formula 1 field at the Singapore Grand Prix on the evidence of FP2 as Red Bull toiled.

The pair were more than half a second clear of anyone else under the lights in second practice, and though there was one caveat - Carlos Sainz saying he had a "very scrappy lap" as he set the third-fastest time - the battle for pole does appear to be shaping up to be a McLaren vs Ferrari fight once more.

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Norris, whose McLaren team has been informed that its low-downforce wing (not in use at the Marina Bay circuit) will need to be modified if it wants to use it again this season, ended the session fastest by 0.058 seconds from Leclerc's Ferrari.

But the fact it was the McLaren ahead not the Ferrari perhaps owed something to Leclerc glancing the wall at the Turn 14 right-hander on his first attempt.

Though Leclerc's second timed lap on the same set of softs was his fastest by 0.019s, he had been fastest of all in the first and second sectors before his brush with the wall on the left-hand side.

Their superiority continued once the field switched to long-run practice in the second half of the session, too. Again, it was the McLaren that was fastest - though Norris conducted his race simulations on softs versus Leclerc's mediums.

Like Leclerc, Norris also had a brush with a barrier during FP2 - hitting the wall on the exit of Turn 3 at the start of the lap.

Sainz was a lonely third in the final classification - well adrift of the top two but more than a tenth clear of a congested pack behind.

Championship leader Max Verstappen was a lowly 15th, 1.294s off Norris - his closest rival for the drivers' championship, 59 points behind.

Verstappen reported he had "no grip in the low speed, front and rear" early on in the session and then had an off under braking at the end of the fast run to Turn 7.

The three-time champion's long-run pace on hard tyres looked more competitive, however, albeit a way off what Norris and Leclerc managed.

Sergio Perez fared better on single-lap pace, setting the eighth-fastest time - with even a slower second attempt faster than Verstappen's FP2 best.

But he was still slower than either of the sister RB team's cars, both of which were in the top six.

Yuki Tsunoda again had the upper-hand in that intra-team battle, but Daniel Ricciardo - who faces questions about his F1 future after this weekend's Singapore GP - was just one hundredth further back in sixth.

They were split by the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who was almost three quarters of a second off his pacesetting team-mate Norris.

Piastri's long runs were also interrupted by a considerable hit against the wall exiting Turn 17.

George Russell was seventh-fastest but lost his front wing in the final minutes of FP2.

📻 "I'm in the wall"

George Russell clonks the barriers, yellow flags flutter, and that's the end of FP2 #F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/xGcDoHYBmA

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 20, 2024

The Mercedes driver ran head on into the wall at Turn 8, bringing out double-yellow flags, but was able to reverse out and return to the pits.

His team-mate Lewis Hamilton sounded particularly discontented over the Mercedes team radio, complaining his W15 had "no rear end", "massive understeer" and that its performance was "unbelievable".

He ended the session 11th fastest, just under a second off Norris and behind Alex Albon (Williams) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas).