Singapore GP: Charles Leclerc quickest in rain-affected Practice 3

Charles Leclerc set the pace in a rain-affected final practice at the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday.

A torrential downpour soaked the streets of Marina Bay before the session with steady rain continuing into the final scheduled hour of running before qualifying.

But conditions would improve enough for the pit lane to be opened at the half-hour mark and Pierre Gasly would be the first to venture out.

After he and others completed some tentative laps on the full wets, the intermediate quickly became the tyre compound to be on.

Max Verstappen would head straight out on the inters and immediately started posting fastest lap after fastest lap, improving by seconds on each occasion.

Only Gasly would be able to keep pace with the Dutchman before the rest gradually started to close up as the track continued to dry.

And in the final moments, Leclerc used his Ferrari’s ability to switch the tyres on quickly to post a 1m57.782s to lead Verstappen by half a second.

Carlos Sainz improved to third with his final lap, albeit a further half-second behind Max, ahead of Fernando Alonso in fourth for Alpine.

Sergio Perez took fifth in the second Red Bull, as Lance Stroll showed his wet-weather prowess in sixth for Aston Martin.

Esteban Ocon followed in seventh, ahead of Sebastian Vettel in eighth.

George Russell was the lead Mercedes in ninth as he and teammate Lewis Hamilton waited longer than most to switch to intermediates, and then struggled to generate heat in the tyres.

Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10 for McLaren.

Further down, Kevin Magnussen was 11th and Hamilton 12th. Gasly dropped to 13th, in front of Mick Schumacher, who had tyre trouble as Haas struggled to attach his left rear in the pit-box.

Yuki Tsunoda was 15th, ahead of Lando Norris and Alex Albon. The two Alfa Romeos were 18th and 19th, as brake and steering issues left Nicholas Latifi slowest, 5.7s off the pace.

Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below: