Charles Leclerc suggested Ferrari can have a say at the Singapore Grand Prix, after leading final practice on Saturday.
The Monegasque jumped to the top with his very first timed lap and then responded after a mid-session red flag with an impressive 1m38.192s, two-tenths clear of Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc was certainly too quick for teammate Sebastian Vettel, with the German six-tenths down in third but it was still a strong session for the Scuderia, who few gave much of a chance at Marina Bay.
Valtteri Bottas came fourth as Alex Albon led Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen in fifth and sixth, the Dutchman though losing a lot of time on his best lap through the final sector.
Verstappen was also compromised by having to abandon his initial run as debris caused by Sergio Perez hitting the wall at Turn 21 required a red flag to clear.
That meant, he was limited on timed laps compared to those around him.
Hamilton too didn’t have the perfect final run, spinning at Turn 3 on cold tyres out of the pits and having to abandon his first lap due to Lando Norris’ slow McLaren on the approach to Turn 5.
In the midfield, McLaren and Renault continued their scrap by claiming the final four top 10 places.
It was the Woking-based outfit with an advantage though as Carlos Sainz was within 0.2s of the Red Bulls in seventh and the same amount ahead of teammate Norris.
Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo found themselves four-tenths back of the Spaniard as they were split by just 0.035s in ninth and 10th.
Racing Point appears the most likely to challenge them for Q3 places though, with Lance Stroll 11th and Perez looking solid before his hit against the wall.
Toro Rosso too can’t be ruled out with Pierre Gasly in 12th, there was trouble for teammate Daniil Kvyat though as he failed to set a time having recovered to the pits with an apparent engine problem.
Looking strong though is George Russell in 15th for Williams as he tries to do what he just missed out in Hungary and make Q2 for the first time in his F1 career.
The Briton had Antonio Giovinazzi and both Haas cars behind him while also leading Robert Kubica by eight-tenths as the Pole finished last of those to post a time.
But at the front though and Leclerc’s pace has thrown all predictions out of the window heading into qualifying, where perhaps Mercedes may have more to offer but at this point, we just don’t know!
Full results from final practice in Singapore can be seen below:
