Russell dominates and doubts for the leader before sprint qualifying in Singapore; Alonso, in a very even fight

Today, at 2:30 p.m. (DAZN) the Singapore GP sprint classificationa fight against the clock that seems even and full of tension between the walls of the Marina Bay after what was seen (and what the pilots hid) in the first and only training session this Friday.

George Russellwho will start from the back on Sunday (but not in the sprint race) due to a penalty due to changing engines, started the Singapore GP dominating FP1 with 0″198 advantage over Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari, and by 0″273 of margin with respect to the McLaren of Lando Norriswhich hopes to resurface after two difficult weekends in terms of performance.

The times may indicate a superiority for Mercedes, but in the sprint classificationeverything is expected to be tighter, with Ferrari, McLaren and Verstappen fighting for the first position on the sprint grid that will be held this Saturday. At the moment, of all of them, Max Verstappen was the one who hid the most, since he was the only one at the top along with Kimi Antonelli in not mounting the soft tire.

Max finished 6th behind Hamilton (4th) and Piastri (5th), 7 tenths awayunreal time for a Verstappen that everyone expects in that battle for the ‘mini pole’.

The doubt in Mercedes: are you improving or not?

Being a sprint format weekend, the teams only had one hour in this FP1 to test settings and gain confidence between walls before the start of the real fire in the fight against the clock this Friday afternoon. And in that context, it was crucial for mercedes compare performances between its two aerodynamic packages: Russelhaving sanction for Sunday, proposed to mercedes bring the old package of parts to compare it directly with the new ones that worked so poorly in Sepang.

They believed it was something specific about the state of the runway. Malaysiabut for now, george started at the front and Kimi was 7th. Of course, the Italian did not ride the soft one and was left at 01.251, 5 tenths behind. Maxwith the same medium rubber.

The transalpine even had a final scare when he went long for the escape when he was affected by traffic. Mercedes will have to analyze the data collected to understand what happens with the new parts. It will be necessary to see if with them, Kimi, leader of the World Championship, manages to optimize the performance of his car to fight for everything.

Alonso, two tenths from 11th

He Marina Bay It is a circuit that should be better adapted to the characteristics of Aston Martin due to the lack of straights, something important due to the clear lack of power of its Honda engine, which here will not be such a disadvantage compared to other circuits.

In that context, Fernando Alonso started the weekend in the middle of the fight for a very even middle zone. On hard rubber, in the first part of the session, he was close to the top ten, in 11th place. And with the first laps with the medium, he was 12th. Finally, he was 14th, but close to his rivals. Of course, it was not as hopeful a start as expected, since his teammate Stroll was 20th, 7 tenths behind Fernando, indicating that the car might not be easy to drive initially between walls.

Then, Gasly, with a time left, stood out by achieving 9th place, with Lawson and an RB that started on the right foot in 10th place. From then on, the times were very even, with all the protagonists of that area of ​​the peloton still setting their times with medium rubber.with the doubt of how everyone will do with soft tires if they reach Q3 or ahead of the main classification on Saturday.

Eleventh was Bearman, with his Haas, 2.057 behind the best, almost two tenths from 10th. He was followed by Lindblad, 0.145, and Ocon, 13th, just 5 thousandths behind Lindblad. Right behind, Fernando Alonso placed 14th, just 14 thousandths behind Ocon. That is, 19 thousandths behind Ocon’s 13th place and almost two tenths away from 11th place.

The fight against the one-lap time is essential on this track position where it will be difficult to overtake. Previous races have shown that the green car usually performs better in the race, due to its good tire degradation, but Alonso needs to prioritize qualifying this time to start showing his strengths in that battle for points on Sunday.

Sainz, 15th

Just behind Fernando Alonso was Carlos Sainz with a Williams that the man from Madrid already warned that he would have a very difficult time in Singapore because this circuit does not suit your car due to its many medium speed curves. Carlos was 15th, 0″156 behind Fernando and he will have to try to take advantage of his great form after a lap of the last races to once again look for a surprise in the form of positions gained in the fight against the clock.

He won’t have an easy time with a Williams with whom his teammate Albon was 17th, a tenth and a half behind the Spaniard.