FP3: Verstappen goes fastest from Piastri and Russell during final practice in Singapore

Max Verstappen has set the pace during the third and final practice session ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver leading the way from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the Mercedes of George Russell.

With the name at the top of the timesheets changing during the hour, it was Verstappen who ultimately went fastest of all on a 1m 30.148s, putting him 0.017s clear of Piastri.

After a disrupted FP2 on Friday evening – featuring two red flags and various moments for a number of drivers – Saturday’s final practice hour offered a last opportunity for the drivers and teams to make final preparations ahead of Qualifying later in the day.

It was a relatively quiet start as the session began at 1730 local time in temperatures higher than during the previous day, with the Haas pair leading the early runners out – the majority sporting the medium tyres for their initial laps.

As the track started to get busier and most drivers had put a time on the board – with just Verstappen and Russell yet to venture out by the 15-minute mark – Lando Norris went fastest on a 1m 31.021s, prompting his engineer to respond: “Welcome back”

Moments later, a red flag was thrown when Liam Lawson hit the wall approaching Turn 8 after riding over the kerbs, the damaged Racing Bulls car again coming to a halt on the track as it had done during an earlier incident for Lawson in Friday’s FP2.

Following a stoppage while the VCARB 02 was recovered and any debris on the circuit cleared, the action resumed with just over 35 minutes left on the clock. The Mercedes pair of Russell and Kimi Antonelli returned to the track with the soft tyres bolted on, having switched focus to their Qualifying simulations.

A yellow flag was thrown after Carlos Sainz ran down the escape road at Turn 14 before reversing back onto the circuit, just as Williams team mate Alex Albon – running the soft C5 rubber – slotted into second place on the timesheets. At just over the halfway point, Norris remained on top by 0.152s from the Thai driver, while Sainz had claimed P3.

While Antonelli then went quickest on a 1m 30.760s, it was confirmed that Lewis Hamilton – the driver he replaced at Mercedes – had been noted for a red flag infringement, an incident that it was later confirmed would be investigated after the session. Meanwhile another yellow flag appeared after Albon mirrored his team mate’s earlier moment by briefly making a trip down the escape road, this time at Turn 16.

There was frustration for FP1 pacesetter Fernando Alonso, the Aston Martin man being asked to limp his car home with just over 15 minutes remaining in the session. Elsewhere, more drivers were switching to the soft tyres for their flying laps.

Charles Leclerc initially shot to the top after his opening effort on the soft compound before being pushed down by Norris – who was then displaced by Verstappen, the Dutchman going quickest on a 1m 30.148s. Russell slotted in-between them in second place, though admitted that he was “struggling for confidence” in the corner where he suffered a crash during Friday’s FP2.

Amid a few moments of traffic in a busy final minutes – with one seeing Verstappen with little room to manoeuvre alongside Alpine’s Franco Colapinto as they tried to leave room for Pierre Gasly – Verstappen held on to P1 with a margin of 0.017s from Piastri, the McLaren driver slotting in a fast lap in the closing moments.

Russell had to settle for third ahead of Antonelli in a decent showing for Mercedes, followed by Norris, Sainz and the Racing Bulls machine of Isack Hadjar. Hamilton – who faces a stewards’ investigation over that red flag infringement – was eighth, while Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and the other Ferrari of Leclerc rounded out the top 10.

Albon claimed P11 from the Kick Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto (P12), the Haas duo of Esteban Ocon (P13) and Ollie Bearman (P14), and Alonso (P15).

Colapinto was 16th while Lance Stroll took 17th for Aston Martin. Yuki Tsunoda put his Red Bull into 18th place, with Gasly just behind in 19th and Lawson bringing up the rear in 20th.

Focus will now switch to the all-important Qualifying, which is set to get underway at 2100 local time.