Russell leads Singapore GP practice for Mercedes

George Russell set the fastest time in Friday’s sole practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix, leading Charles Leclerc by 0.198 seconds and Lando Norris by 0.273 seconds. The Mercedes driver clocked 1 minute 32.274 seconds in the session, which took place ahead of sprint qualifying later Friday. Leclerc finished second for Ferrari, with McLaren’s Norris third. Lewis Hamilton was fourth, followed by Oscar Piastri. Max Verstappen was sixth and the fastest driver whose best lap came on medium tyres. Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli was seventh, also on mediums. Russell set his quickest lap on soft tyres, as did the other drivers in the top five. The different tyre compounds and strategies limited what the times could show about the teams’ relative pace. Verstappen and Antonelli were the leading medium-tyre runners. Mercedes also ran different car specifications. Russell used an older package, while Antonelli had the team’s updated parts, including a new front wing. Their final times are not a direct measure of the upgrade’s effect: the drivers used different tyres and had different closing stages to their sessions.