Max Verstappen tops Singapore Grand Prix FP3 as Liam Lawson crashes Racing Bulls again

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A tight Singapore Grand Prix FP3 session was topped by Max Verstappen as the Dutchman eyes his maiden win at the Marina Bay Circuit.

Red Bull are notorious for struggling around the track due to its high downforce nature, with the Singapore Grand Prix being the only race on the calendar that Verstappen has yet to take a victory at.

Despite the session being good practice for the drivers to adjust to the circuit, the times cannot be reflective of the later qualifying or tomorrow’s grand prix, as conditions will change later in the day.

Williams had a strong Friday, despite Alex Albon’s brake fire, and got off to a strong start during the final practice. At the halfway mark of FP3, Albon and Carlos Sainz sat closely behind leading Lando Norris, in P2 and P3, respectively.

Albon was just one tenth behind Lando Norris, but had set his impressive time on soft tyres, compared to the McLaren on mediums.

Aston Martin struggled for pace during the final practice, after a really strong performance from Fernando Alonso on Friday. The Spaniard had topped FP1 timing sheets yesterday, despite his teammate Lance Stroll, sitting in P18.

Mercedes had a strong FP3, finding both drivers in the top five at the end of the session. The team had not expected the higher temperatures of Singapore to suit their car, but George Russell and Kimi Antonelli found themselves in P3 and P4, respectively.

Russell told his race engineers: “Still struggling for confidence in the corner I crashed yesterday. Just the rears are on the edge”, after a quick end to his FP2 session on Friday night.

The top five were separated by less than one hundredth of a second, which could make this afternoon’s qualifying session very interesting.

Following the session, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told Sky Sports F1: “That is certainly very tight, especially considering it is a street circuit. I’m curious to see how tight it will be in Qualifying. From our side, we are in the mix.”

Read more: Singapore Grand Prix: how to watch, UK timings and weather as McLaren target championship victory

Liam Lawson causes another red flag after FP2 disaster

Liam Lawson triggered the first red flag for FP3 on Saturday after a heavy shunt into the wall at Turn 7. Pieces of the Racing Bulls’ front wing were scattered across the track in a crash reminiscent of his FP2 crash yesterday evening.

Lawson went wide on the Turn 8 corner exit, with his car going up on the kerb. The placement caused the rear of the Racing Bulls to slide, with the Kiwi over-correcting the issue before catching the concrete wall.

Jolyon Palmer said on F1TV: “Probably pushing too hard too soon trying to make up for lost time yesterday and Lawson is now in real trouble for Qualifying. To go into that having two crashes, if he makes it out of Q1 that will be a miraculous recovery.”

It was an unfortunate accident for Lawson, who missed out on the majority of FP2 yesterday after he found himself in the wall at Turn 17.

Lewis Hamilton has been noted for a red flag infringement following Lawson’s crash, which could result in a potential grid place penalty. Stewards are usually more lenient with a yellow flag issue, but we have seen a couple of red flag penalties handed out in 2025.