Norris in command under the lights in second Singapore practice

Lando Norris finished at the top of second practice in the first night session of the Singapore Grand Prix. Norris had been pipped by Charles Leclerc in FP1 but repaid the favor in the evening session, the McLaren driver pinching top spot with a best time of 1m30.727s to beat his Ferrari rival by 0.058s after sunset. The Briton’s only sour note was to strike the wall during his long-run simulation in the second half-hour of the session while exiting Turn 3, though he was able to continue undamaged. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, struggled with his Red Bull Racing car and its lack of grip in the slow-speed corners. He propelled himself to 15th in the classification and almost 1.3s off the apiece. Norris and Leclerc were in a class of their own in the representative night-time conditions. While Carlos Sainz was the next-best driver in the second Ferrari, he was a thumping 0.629s off the pace, though he again talked of feeling brake problems through the hour. The Spaniard headed a tightly packed field behind the leading two drivers, with third down to 13th spread over just 0.437. Yuki Tsunoda was the standout among them, putting his RB fourth and 0.112s slower than Sainz. Oscar Piastri had another scruffy session, the Australian lacking the poise to match Norris around Singapore on his way to fifth. Daniel Ricciardo was sixth and 0.751s off the pace, though that was enough to pip George Russell to the place. Russell, however, complained over Mercedes team radio that he hadn’t had the chance to properly warm up his tires for a qualifying simulation run. Things later got worse, though, with Russell subsequently breaking his front wing in a clumsy crash at Turn 8 with just minutes still to go in the hour, locking up and careening into the wall. After finding reverse gear, he was able to pull himself out of the barriers and limp back to his garage for repairs. Sergio Perez said his Red Bull Racing car was “all over the place” in the first half of the session, leaving him eighth and 0.871s slower than Norris’s benchmark. Alex Albon finished behind Perez in ninth and 0.923 off the pace, while Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10 for Haas at 0.982s adrift. Lewis Hamilton again struggled after finishing 11th in FP1. He was in no better form in FP2, complaining of “massive understeer” and undertaking rear suspension changes part of the way through the session in pursuit of grip. Fernando Alonso was 12th fastest ahead of returnee Kevin Magnussen, the Dane having been suspended from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after having collected too many points on his Super License. Lance Stroll was 14th ahead of the out-of-position Verstappen, Franco Colapinto, Alpine teammates Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly and Sauber duo Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.