Leclerc fastest in the third tests in rainy Singapore

The third free practice session of this year’s 17th round of Formula 1 has been postponed by half an hour due to rain – meaning that teams and drivers have just 30 minutes until today’s (1/10, 4pm) Singapore GP qualifying tests had.

The second half-hour started with full wet tires but the riders quickly found – thanks in part to the organizers’ efforts to dry the track – that it was possible to approach Marina Bay with rain breaks.

In the quarter, Max Verstappen climbed to the top of the times on this tire, but the ever-improving grip of the ideal line caused the fastest time to drop steadily – with the Dutchman coming back with every pass. Until then, Leclerc had set two fastest laps and stayed in the lead until the checkered flag.

The gaps were chaotic: not just the half second Verstappen was off Leclerc, but the other half behind Carlos Sainz in third and the other six tenths from Fernando Alonso with Alpine in fourth.

Sergio Perez was 1.75 inches ahead of Leclerc after making an early stop on his final fast lap while the two Mercedes’s of George Russell (9th) and Lewis Hamilton (12th) were over three seconds behind him. The latter only went on the track for seven laps – in a test phase which, despite the conditions, held no particular surprises.