Singapore, FP2: Ricciardo continues to set the pace

The Australian at head of Red Bull 1-2

After leading the way in the first practice session in Singapore, Daniel Ricciardo doubled up with top spot in the evening session, beating Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen by over half a second.

The Australian driver set a best time of 1:40.852 on his qualifying simulation on ultrasoft tyres to finish 0.556s quicker than Verstappen. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was third, a sizeable seven tenths off the pace.

After missing out on P1 in the opening session by just a tenth of a second, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished the evening session in 11th position after failing to complete a qualifying style run during the 90 minutes.

The German set the quickest first sector on a first flying lap but after being blocked by a Sauber he abandoned the attempt. He then went for a second flier but in Turn 10 he momentarily lost control and hit the wall. After the close shave he reverted to longer runs and ended the session 2.2s off Ricciardo’s pace. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen fared only marginally better and even though the Finn managed an ultrasoft tyre run he finished in ninth place, 1.983s off the pace.

Fourth place in the session went to Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes, the Finn posting a time of 1:42.104 to beat fifth-placed Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg by just over three tenths of a second.

McLaren, who like Red Bull are expected to prosper on this twisting circuit, had a good session with Stoffel Vandoorne finishing in sixth place, 1.6s adrift of Ricciardo. Team-mate Fernando Alonso was just under three tenths of a second further back in seventh place.

After finish fifth in the earlier session, Sergio Perez was eighth for Force India, 1.974s off the pace. Ninth-placed Räikkönen separated Perez from his Force India team-mate Esteban Ocon who finished 0.269s behind the Mexican.