Max Verstappen would claim the top spot in Practice 3 on Saturday as Red Bull completed a clean sweep ahead of qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel bringing Ferrari back into the mix finishing second ahead of Lewis Hamilton who gave Mercedes some optimism in third.
The young Dutchman would post a 1:42.829s on the Ultrasoft tyres as teams completed their final low fuel preparations but was surprised late on as his car started shifting gears on its own, potentially due to electronic interference from the metro under the track, however, the team was able to fix the problem and Verstappen was out once again undisturbed.
Vettel led a Ferrari recovery finishing just 0.072s adrift of the Red Bull after a difficult second session on Friday, while championship leader Hamilton produced a strong final lap to also climb to within two-tenths of Verstappen, although the Silver Arrows still look far from comfortable around Marina Bay.
McLaren was able to grab a promising fourth and fifth as they hope to optimise on the lack of engine-dependence on the street circuit and be lead the midfield. In the order, Fernando Alonso finished ahead of his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne.
Daniel Ricciardo had to settle for sixth best after the Australian made slight contact with the barrier in Turn 10, forcing him to abandon what could well have been the fastest lap in the final minutes.
Nico Hulkenberg able impressed in his Renault to claim seventh, setting the fastest time of anyone in the technical Sector 3 at one stage. The German would be ahead of a struggling Finn’s as Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen could only end the session eighth and ninth respectively with Singapore specialist Sergio Perez completing the top 10.
The Mexican’s Force India teammate Esteban Ocon finished less than a tenth behind in 11th followed by Carlos Sainz who finished 12th. Jolyon Palmer was able to split the Toro Rosso’s in 13th with Daniil Kvyat 14th.
Williams and Haas are the two midfield teams struggling the most as Felipe Massa was only able to finish 15th with Kevin Magnussen 16th followed by respective teammates Lance Stroll and Romain Grosjean.
In qualifying, it appears the story will be which of those four drivers will be able to escape Q1 and who will join Sauber as they again brought up the field.
Pascal Wehrlein continued to have the edge on Marcus Ericsson, as the Swede caused a red flag by spinning backwards into the wall at Turn 19, breaking his rear wing and spending the last 26 minutes of the session in the garage.
Red Bull continue to set the pace but Ferrari is closing the gap with Mercedes not far behind, therefore, looking ahead one thing is promised, an intense qualifying session. Who will be able to finish on pole?
