It's only Friday, it's just free practice, but between the narrow walls of Singapore a clear indication emerges: in Marina Bay we're heading towards a two-horse race between McLaren, slightly favored, and the Ferrari who is right there in the race with Charles Leclerc.
Two-way fight? The response from the first free practice sessions in Singapore
The two main contenders for pole position at the Singapore GP appear to be Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, who are making a huge difference in the standings second free practice and achieved the best time in FP2 and FPXNUMX respectively FP1. Although Zak Brown does not rule out opponents other than Sainz and Piastri, such as declared by the CEO of McLaren himself to the microphones of Sky Sport F1 Italia.
As for the flying lap, which is very important on a street circuit like this, what the British driver and the Monegasque driver from the Rossa showed was impressive: separated by 58 thousandths, they are at a higher level than everyone else. There is however a distinction that could be to Charles' advantage: if Norris admitted to having found the perfect lap and to being able to improve this time with difficulty, Leclerc did not appear too happy and believes he can do better.
Leclerc Statements
At the end of the second free practice, Leclerc spoke to the media as follows:
The car was feeling good, but there’s still some work to do to make it feel exactly how I want it. It was a good starting point, now we need to find the right balance and put it all together in qualifying tomorrow.
The weather forecast for the rest of the weekend is changeable so we will have to adapt very quickly. I would be surprised to see the same gap behind us again tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if the hierarchy changes.
As we all know, pole in Singapore is crucial. And Charles Leclerc has what it takes to get it.
