Ferrari fastest in Singapore as Red Bull struggle
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Ferrari fastest in Singapore as Red Bull struggle
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Ferrari were fastest in Singapore Grand Prix practice on Friday as Red Bull's record 15-race unbeaten run looked in danger of ending.
Charles Leclerc was top of the timesheets in the first session with team mate Carlos Sainz second, with the positions reversed later on as the Italian team again led one-two.
Red Bull's runaway Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen, chasing an unprecedented 11th win in a row, was third and eighth respectively in the hot and humid sessions.
"Ferrari is very fast, I think we're just way worse than we expected," said the Dutch 25-year-old.
Team mate Sergio Perez, last year's winner on the Marina Bay layout, was seventh in both and struggling with the rear end of the car.
"Every braking zone I feel like I'm going to crash. The rear is just stepping out massively," the Mexican relayed over the team radio.
"We did expect the Ferrari to be very strong around here," he told Formula One television. "We're just too far away. Hopefully tomorrow we are able to close the gap a bit more but we do expect quite a challenge."
Red Bull are unbeaten so far this season and expected to fight for pole again on Saturday but they had already identified Ferrari as their major rivals coming into the weekend.
Others were determined also to get in on the action, with five teams in the top seven in practice two and four of them ahead of Red Bull.
George Russell was third for Mercedes in session two, with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso fourth.
